In recent weeks, the hunt has attracted protests from celebrities such as former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney and his wife, Heather Mills McCartney; French film legend Brigitte Bardot; and Canadian-born actress and former Playboy model Pamela Anderson.
A U.S. businesswoman even offered sealers $16 million U.S. to end the cull.
But their criticisms have not been heeded. Instead, they prompted harsh rebukes from officials, who claimed the hunt is humane and does not threaten the species.
Seal numbers have ballooned to 5.8 million, officials said, three times as many as in 1976, when Bardot kicked off decades of protests by hugging a fluffy white, doe-eyed baby seal for photographers.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who refused repeated requests to meet with various celebrities to discuss the matter, claimed Canada had become the victim of "an international propaganda campaign" after activists threatened to press a worldwide boycott of Canadian fish products.
Several activists were arrested after purportedly getting too close to hunters on the ice floes. However, no charges have been filed so far, activists said.
The annual seal hunt earns about $16.5 million Canadian ($14.2 million U.S.) in commercial meat and pelts for thousands of local fishermen, plus another $4 million Canadian ($3.5 million U.S.) for related industries, officials said.
Canada banned the killing of the youngest seals, less than 12 days old, in 1987 amid criticism and threats of European boycotts that pushed the industry to the brink of collapse.
Since then, the protests have largely disappeared. But Canada awoke the wrath of activists in 2003 by approving a three-year cull of some 975,000 seals, coinciding with the opening of new markets in China and Russia.
The Dalai Lama, singer Charles Aznavour and actors Kim Bassinger, Juliette Binoche and Richard Dean Anderson, among others, have campaigned against the hunt over the years.
Their calls have been largely ignored by Ottawa, which authorized the cull of 325,000 seals this year.
Name: Harp Seal (
Phoca groenlandica)
Primary Classification: Phocidae (Earless Seals)
Location: Northern Atlantic and Arctic oceans
Habitat: Arctic waters and ice floes
Diet: Cod, capelin, herring, halibut, and small crabs
Size: Averages 4.6 to 6.6 ft in length and 220 to 320 lbs in weight.
Description: Silver-white fur; black head; dark markings on the back that resemble harps; wide face; close-set eyes
Cool Facts: It migrates over 5,000 miles between its feeding and breeding grounds. It can remain below water for up to 30 minutes at a time.
Conservation Status: Common
What Can I Do?: If you oppose the Canadian seal hunt, please visit the
Humane Society of the United States' Protect Seals site for information on how you can help.
