Ottawa, June 1, 2010 - Industry efforts to "set the record straight" about Canadian seal hunting are showing positive results, according to the Fur Institute of Canada.

A study conducted for the Fur Institute by an independent polling company in April indicates that two out of three Canadians (63%) accept commercial seal hunting, so long as the hunt is conducted responsibly (humanely) and sustainably (species is not endangered).

“We are pleased to see that, despite the hype by animal-rights groups about national opposition to seal hunting, only a small fraction of Canadians oppose the activity outright,” said Rob Cahill, Executive Director of the Fur Institute.

In addition to supporting commercial seal hunting, almost 85% of Canadians accept that seals can be hunted to maintain a balance and protect fish stocks.  

This acceptance of seal hunting has emerged despite the fact that very few Canadians realize how dramatically the harp seal population has INCREASED since the early 1980’s – from about 2.8 million to 6.9 million today.


Other Quick Facts from the SSN Study

• 75% of Canadians think that the seal population is much lower than it actually is.

• Only 16% of survey respondents said they were opposed to all forms of seal hunting.

• More Canadians (30%) consider seal hunters/fishermen to be the most credible source of information about the hunt, than do those who trust animal activists (20%) or government officials (21%).

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.

For more information, contact

Robert B. Cahill, Executive Director, Fur Institute of Canada
331 Cooper Street, Suite 701, Ottawa Ontario K1P 0G5
(613) 231-7099 x 226, Mobile:  (613) 878-0034