[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 22, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9700-S9701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CANADIAN HARP SEAL HUNT

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the Humane Society of the United States, 
HSUS, has recently brought to my attention a matter that I want to 
share with my colleagues. According to this prestigious organization, 
the Canadian government provides millions of dollars of subsidies to 
the sealing industry every year. These subsidies facilitate the 
slaughter of innocent animals and artificially extend the life of an 
industry which has ceased to exist in most developed countries.
  In 2001, a group of independent veterinarians traveled to observe the 
seal

[[Page S9701]]

hunt. What they witnessed was shocking to all who are concerned about 
the humane treatment of animals. The images are difficult to envision 
but harder to believe: skinning of live animals and the dragging of 
live seals across the ice using steel hooks.
  Few would argue that this industry still serves a legitimate purpose. 
A number of years ago, an economic analysis of the Canadian sealing 
industry concluded that it provided the equivalent of only 100 to 150 
full-time jobs each year. In addition, the analysis found that these 
jobs cost Canadian taxpayers nearly $30,000 each. The report concluded 
that when the cost of government subsidies provided to the industry was 
weighed against the landed value of the seals each year, the net value 
of the sealing industry was close to zero.
  There is little about the Canadian sealing industry that is self-
sustaining. The operating budget of the Canadian Sealers Association 
continues to be paid by the Canadian government; their rent each month 
is paid by the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador; seal 
processing companies continue to receive subsidies through the Atlantic 
Canada Opportunities Agency; Human Resources Development Canada, and 
other federal funding programs for staffing and capital costs. The 
sealing industry, through the Sealing Industry Development Council and 
other bodies, receives assistance for product research and development, 
and for product marketing initiatives, both overseas and domestically. 
All the costs of the seal hunt for ice breaking services and for search 
and rescue, provided by the Canadian Coast Guard, are underwritten by 
Canadian taxpayers.
  Many believe that subsidizing an industry that only operates for a 
few weeks a year and employs only a few hundred people on a seasonal, 
part-time basis is simply a bad investment on the part of the Canadian 
government. The HSUS has already called upon the Canadian government to 
end these archaic subsidies and instead work to diversify the economy 
in the Atlantic region by facilitating long-term jobs and livelihoods.
  The clubbing of baby seals can't be defended or justified, and Canada 
should end it just as we ended the Alaska baby seal massacre 20 years 
ago.

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