[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 32 (Wednesday, March 16, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST THE CANADIAN SEAL HUNT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 15, 2005

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I join many of my colleagues and 
8.5 million members of the Humane Society of the United States in 
designating March 15th as the International Day of Action Against the 
Canadian Seal Hunt. Across the world in 50 cities, citizens will be 
coming together at Canadian Embassies and Consulates to call for an end 
to the horrific slaughter of harp and hooded seals.
  The Canadian seal hunt season runs from November 15th to May 15th and 
occurs off the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. Anyone with a 
commercial sealing license or provincial hunting license can take part 
in the seal hunt.
  The Canadian government has authorized the killing of over 300,000 
seals this year alone, and 975,000 from 2003-2005. They have also 
helped to pay for this hunt with $20 million in subsidies provided to 
the sealing industry between 1995 and 2001. While there are quotas in 
place, they are not enforced by the government. According to the Humane 
Society of the United States the number of seals killed in 2002 
surpassed the quota by more than 37,000 seals, and in 2004, by nearly 
16,000. These numbers do not take into account the number of seals who 
were wounded and perished later.
  While this season's seal hunt opened on November 15, 2004, the bulk 
of the killings will begin taking place in the next few weeks as new 
seal pups are born. These new seal pups are called ``beaters'' by the 
hunters. While hunters do kill adult seals, an estimated 95 percent of 
those killed are twelve days to twelve months old. These seals, who are 
either clubbed or shot to death, are killed primarily for their skins.
  In 1991, an independent team of veterinarians found that the seal 
hunt did not adhere to Canada's animal welfare regulations. Most 
disturbing of their findings is that 42 percent of the seals they 
studied had likely been skinned alive while conscious. This high 
percentage of live skinnings alone is a disturbing number, but combined 
with the other details of the seal hunt it is clear that it is time for 
an end to this practice.
  The Canadian fishing industry claims that the seal hunt needs to 
continue because they eat too many cod and adversely impact the fish 
population. However, two Canadian government marine scientists have 
stated clearly that the true cause of cod depletion was over fishing. 
They also noted that, ``the consensus among the international community 
is that seals are not responsible for the collapse in cod stocks.''
  The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans Minister hailed the 
seal hunt by saying it will harvest ``a valuable natural resource.'' 
Harp and hooded seals are not a natural resource, but animals that 
should not have to endure the suffering inflicted through the 
government authorized seal hunt.
  I join with not only the Humane Society of the United States, but 
also with Greenpeace, Nova Scotia Humane Society and the World Society 
for the Protection of Animals, among many other organizations, in 
calling for the Canadian government to end this barbaric and inhumane 
practice.

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