Hannah+Traore-The+seal+hunt

=About the seal hunt= My question: If seals go extinct, what would happen to Canadian.

i need to find out: where they live. what they eat. what they do for us. characteristics of arctic. why are they there. what people do with them. who is killing them. why do we kill them. more about natives. what's the issue. environmental issues? human factors?why is it important as canadians. human connections?

// 2009, July 5. Seal hunt facts//. April 2, 2010, Seal sheperd conservation society: http://www.seashepherd.org/seals/seal-hunt-facts.html

· Largest mass slaughter of marine mammals in the world · Canada expects to kill over 325,000 seals this spring and plus 10,000 harp seal quota for an aboriginal allowance · In 2003-2005, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) allowed a kill quota of 975,000 baby & adult harp seals plus 30,000 adult hood seals. · 2004, 365,971 seals were killed · 2003, 283,497 harp seals were killed · 2002 over 312,000 were killed while the kill quota was only 275,000 · No legal consequences for the quota overkill but Instead, the Canadian government rewarded the kill quota violations with an increase of 75,000 seals · No scientific justification for these quotas as the seal counting techniques used amount to little more than guesswork

// 2009, May 6. S eal hunt//. April 19, 2010, Canadian seal hunt: http://www.canadiansealhunt.com/
 * European Seal Bill was approved (bans all imports of seal products into Europe)
 * 550 votes were for the ban-only 49 against it
 * illegal to import seal products within the European Union
 * ^ most devastating blow to the seal hunt
 * Seal pelts are only $14 Canadian (REALLY CHEEP)-less than half of their value last year
 * when the 2009 sealing season was nearly over only 59 500 seal pelts were taken out of a quota of 280 000
 * Most sealers stayed home as the profit margins were too small
 * The Seal hunt officially ended May 15, 2009
 * The 2008 Canadian Seal hunt kill quota was 275 000- 5000 more seals than 2007s kill quota of 270 000
 * The upwards trend of past years we expect the figure to go up
 * Since 2003 a lot more than 1.7 million seals have been butchered
 * Seals are normally clubbed to death
 * If that doesn't work, it will be skinned alive
 * Organizations that photograph/film the hunt with no government permission risk imprisonment
 * In Canada sealers are protected by the 'Seal Protection Regulations'
 * If you see a sealer club a seal pup and you don’t have a permit to witness the slaughter you can be arrested, jailed and fined up to $100,000 or sent to jail for a year!

http://www.bigbluetech.net/big-blue-tech-news/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/sealhunt1.jpg**
 * PICTURES

http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/wp-content/uploads/sealmn002-cu3.jpg http://bullsheet.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/seal-hunt.jpg http://www.canadiantouristboard.com/clubbed.jpg http://www.gan.ca/images/sealhunt_05/sealhunt_05_131.jpg

// 2010, April 20. Fisheries and Oceans Canada//. April 21, 2010, Canada: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/seal-phoque/faq-eng.htm

Total allowable catch (TAC) > > >
 * In Canada, hunting of harp seal pups (whitecoats) has been banned since 1987
 * In Canada the hunting of young, hooded seals (bluebacks) has been banned since 1987
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">A 2003-2005 management plan raised the TAC to 975,000 animals over three years.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">A 2004 harp seal population survey found the harp seal population to be stable and healthy at approximately 5.8 million, almost triple what it was in the 1970s.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">The harp seals TAC was raised to 250,000 in 1996 after the 1994 population data release and public Seal Forums to discuss the situation.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">In December 1987, government banned the commercial harvest of whitecoats/bluebacks and hunting from large ships.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">This decision came from recommendations by the Royal Commission on Seals and Sealing in Canada in 1986 in a report
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">In 1983, the European Economic Community banned the importation of whitecoats and bluebacks.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Between 1983-1995(i was born then!) an average of only 52,000 harp seals were taken annually, a lot below the quota.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Harp seal landings dropped to 120,000-200,000/year in 1972-82.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">besides the quota system, landings were affected by the introduction of the //US Marine Mammal Protection Act// of 1972.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Quota management was introduced in Canada in 1971.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Species– the harp, hooded, grey, ringed, bearded and harbor
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Are found off the Atlantic coast of Canada- ringed and bearded seals are usually Arctic species
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Harp seals account for almost all the seals harvested commercially
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Greys and hooded being a very small portion.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">The //Marine Mammal Regulations// say that only high-powered rifles, shotguns firing slugs, clubs or hakapiks can be used in the seal harvest
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">The waters east of Newfoundland is where 70 per cent of the harvest happens
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">A hakapik is an efficient tool designed to harvest the animal quickly and humanely
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Changes in 2009 to the //Marine Mammal Regulations// prohibit the use of the hakapik as the instrument for the initial strike of seals over the age of 1 year
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The Northwest harp seal population is healthy and abundant and has more than tripled its size since the 1970s to an estimated population of 6.9 million animals.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Based on the last surveys up to 2005, the total population of Northwest Atlantic hooded seals was estimated at 600,000 animals and has continued to grow at a pace of 0.5% per year.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">The grey seal herd population is estimated to be over 300,000 animals.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">The harp seal TAC for 2010 is 330,000.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">The TACs for... 280,000 in 2009, 275,000 in 2008, 270,000 in 2007
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Harvest levels are highly variable and dependent on environmental and market conditions.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">**Harp seals: In 2009, 74,581 harp seals were harvested, compared to 217, 857 in 2008, and 224,745 in 2007. **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">**Hooded Seals: Fewer than 400 hooded seals have been harvested annually in Canada since 1999- There were 10 in 2009. **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">**Grey Seals: In 2009, 254 grey seals were harvested, compared to 1,472 in 2008 and 887 in 2007. **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">The three-step process for harvesting seals is a science-based approach developed to ensure that seals do not suffer unnecessarily. The three steps are...
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">**Step 1)** "Striking" - Sealers must shoot or strike animals on the top of the cranium, with either a firearm or a hakapik or club;
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">**Step 2)** "Checking" - The sealer must palpate both the left and right halves of the cranium, following striking (either with a firearm, hakapik or club), to ensure that the skull has been crushed. This ensures that the seal is irreversibly unconscious or dead;
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal;">**Step 3)** "Bleeding" – The sealer must bleed the animal by severing the two axillary arteries located beneath the front flippers and must allow a minimum of one minute to pass before skinning the animal. Bleeding ensures that the seal is dead.