Ottawa, May 28, 2010 - A Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s plan to cull and incinerate up to 220,000 grey seals off Nova Scotia’s sable island is an example of an ecological “mess” created by the animal-rights movement against the sustainable-use of seal products, says the Fur Institute of Canada.

The plan, which could cost Canadian taxpayers up to $35 million, involves either a large-scale kill and disposal of grey seals, or a targeted contraception program aimed at Canada’s grey seal population, which has grown to 300,000 strong and is now considered a danger to the recovery of threatened groundfish stocks.

According to the Fur Institute, all industry efforts to utilize the animals in accordance with government-set quotas have failed in recent years, due in large part to the strong animal-rights lobby against the use of the animals.

“We have said for years that there are only two options for managing abundant populations, as a sustainable resource, or as a pest,” said Rob Cahill, the Fur Institute’s Executive director.    

Members of the Fur Institute involved in the seal processing sector have indicated that it has not been possible to develop a viable plan for the commercial use of grey seals in recent years, due to anti-sealing pressures.

“We hope that this announced cull will be a wake-up call for Canadians who have questions about the commercial use of harps seals, the population of which dwarfs the current grey seal numbers by 23 to 1,” says Cahill.

Quick Facts on Sealing in Canada
- An April 2010 poll conducted by TNS Canadian Facts indicated that 2 out of 3 Canadians accept seal hunting where populations are not endangered and animal welfare is respected.

- The same poll indicated that fully 85% of Canadians appreciate the need to manage seal populations in relation to the abundance of important fish stocks.

- Canada’s harp seal population consumes approximately 8 million metric tonnes of fish annually.  By contrast, Canada’s entire fishery yields less than 1 million metric tonnes annually.

The Seals and Sealing Network Study was conducted using TNS Canadian Facts' national bi-weekly telephone omnibus service.  A total of 1,017 nationally representative Canadian adults were interviewed between April 12 and 18, 2010.  For a survey sample this size, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.