[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 25, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3778-S3779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    UNNECESARY KILLING OF BABY SEALS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, yesterday Senator Collins and I submitted 
Senate Resolution 84, urging the Government of Canada to end the 
senseless and inhumane slaughter of seals off the east coast of Canada.
  To reiterate, on March 18, 2009, just weeks before its hunting season 
was scheduled to begin, Russia announced that it would ban the hunting 
and killing of baby seals. Youri Trutnev, Russia's Minister of Natural 
Resources, who was quoted in the New York Times last week, graphically 
depicted the shameful practice, saying: ``The bloody sight of the 
hunting of seals, the slaughter of these defenseless animals, which you 
cannot even call a real hunt, is banned in our country, just as well as 
in most developed countries.''

[[Page S3779]]

  In addition, the Internal Markets and Consumer Protection Committee, 
IMCO, of the European Parliament approved a prohibition on trade in 
seal products in the European Union. This measure may now be considered 
by the full European Parliament in the coming months.
  Yet, in Canada, the largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals in 
the world continues. According to the Humane Society of the United 
States, HSUS, over one million seals have been killed over the past 4 
years. In Canada, seal pups as young as 12 days old can legally be 
killed. The vast majority of seals killed in these hunts are between 12 
days and 12 weeks of age.
  Canada has officially opened another seal hunting season, paving the 
way for hundreds of thousands of baby seals to be killed for their fur 
in the coming weeks, when the harp seal hunt begins in earnest. I am 
pleased to have been joined by Senator Collins in submitting this 
resolution that urges the Government of Canada to end this senseless 
and inhumane slaughter.
  The U.S. Government has opposed this senseless slaughter, as noted in 
the January 19, 2005, letter from the U.S. Department of State, in 
response to a letter Senator Collins and I wrote to President Bush, 
urging him to raise this issue during his November 30, 2004, visit with 
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. The letter reads, in part, as 
follows: ``The United States has made known to the Government of Canada 
its objections and the objections of concerned American legislators and 
citizens to the Canadian commercial seal hunt on numerous occasions 
over recent years. The United States has also opposed Canada's efforts 
within the Arctic Council to promote trade in sealskins and other 
marine mammal products.''
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the New York Times article of 
March 19, 2009, entitled ``Russia to Ban Hunting Baby Seals'' be 
printed in the Record, as follows:
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                  Russia To Ban Hunting of Baby Seals

                  (By A.G. Sulzberger, Mar. 19, 2009)

       Russia announced on Wednesday that it would ban the hunting 
     of baby seals, effectively shutting one of the world's 
     largest hunting grounds in the controversial trade in seal 
     fur.
       The decision is yet another blow to an age-old industry 
     that has been losing a public relations battle in recent 
     years to animal-rights groups, who have gained public support 
     by using stark photographs of harp seal pups less than a 
     month old being clubbed to death on blood-stained ice flows.
       In addition, the European Union is considering a ban of all 
     seal products--similar to one that the United States adopted 
     decades ago--which would eliminate a key trade route and end 
     market for the furs. And even in Canada, where the world's 
     largest seal hunt is scheduled to begin later this month and 
     top leaders vigorously defend the industry, a legislator for 
     the first time introduced a proposal to curtail sealing.
       ``It's highly significant,'' Rebecca Aldworth, director of 
     Humane Society International in Canada, said of the political 
     developments. ``It shows that world opinion is moving away 
     from commercial seal hunting. There's hope on the horizon 
     that this may be the last year that we ever have to witness 
     this cruelty.''
       In Russia, where the number of new pups has dropped sharply 
     in recent years because of the hunts as well as shrinking ice 
     in the White Sea, the government initially announced a ban on 
     the killing of the very youngest and most highly prized 
     seals, known as ``whitecoats.'' The seals shed the white fur 
     in about two weeks, with the resulting silver coat also 
     coveted.
       But the government announced in unsparing language that it 
     intended to extend the ban to include all seals less than a 
     year old. (While adult seals are also hunted in smaller 
     quantities, their coarse, scarred fur is generally not used 
     in clothing.) The move, publicly backed by Prime Minister 
     Vladimir V. Putin and coming just weeks before the hunting 
     season was to begin, could save as many as 35,000 seals, 
     according to a spokesman for the International Fund for 
     Animal Welfare.
       The Associated Press quoted the natural resources minister, 
     Yuri Trutnev, as saying in a statement: ``The bloody sight of 
     the hunting of seals, the slaughter of these defenseless 
     animals, which you cannot even call a real hunt, is banned in 
     our country, just as well as in most developed countries, and 
     this is a serious step to protect the biodiversity of the 
     Russian Federation.''
       Masha Vorontsova, the head of the International Fund for 
     Animal Welfare in Russia and a biologist who has been pushing 
     for a ban since the fall of the Soviet Union, credited an 
     outpouring of public support for ending the hunt. ``It's a 
     fantastic achievement,'' she said.
       In contrast, Gail Shea, Canada's Minister of Fisheries and 
     Oceans, did little to disguise her frustration at moves 
     taking aim at the industry both abroad and at home, which she 
     attributed to ``mistruths and propaganda'' spread by special 
     interest groups. ``For some reason the European Union will 
     not recognize what the actual facts are because it's an 
     emotional issue and a political issue,'' she said in an 
     interview.
       Ms. Shea, who earlier flew to Europe to lobby against a 
     European Union ban, warned that such a move could violate 
     international trade law. An industry spokesman said that 
     nearly all Canadian seal products passed through Europe on 
     their way to major consumers like Norway, Russia and China. 
     It is unclear whether Russia will also ban the import and 
     sale of seal products.
       Commercial sealing also takes place in a handful of other 
     counties, including Norway, Greenland and Namibia. In Canada, 
     last year's catch of 207,000 seals--or roughly one in every 
     five pups born that year--earned the roughly 6,000 licensed 
     sealers a total of $7 million, down from $33 million in 2006, 
     according to Phil Jenkins, a spokesman for the Canadian 
     fisheries department. The hunting decreased, he said, largely 
     because of a sharp drop in prices for the pelts, from $97 to 
     $33, for a perfect specimen. Seals are killed by rifle or by 
     club.
       The harp seal population level has held steady at about 5.6 
     million for the last decade, he said, but anti-sealing groups 
     contest that figure.
       However, the Canadian industry came under rare official 
     scrutiny last week, when Mac Harb, a senator from Ontario, 
     introduced the legislation to cancel the coming hunt. He 
     argued that the industry was dying, propped up by public tax 
     dollars and costing Canada international good will. But his 
     proposal died when Mr. Harb could not get another member to 
     second his motion.
       ``There was silence. Total silence!'' he said in a 
     telephone interview on Wednesday. ``I was amazed that not one 
     of my colleagues, from any one of the political parties, 
     would even want to debate the issue.''

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