Harp seal. ecofuture.net

Tue May 11, 12:08 pm ET OTTAWA (AFP) – The government extended its Atlantic coast seal hunt on Tuesday to the end of May as hunters shy away from the sea over a lack of sea ice and a European boycott of seal products. Canada’s Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced the seal harvest in Newfoundland was extended to May 31. This would “allow sealers more time to make use of their 2010 allocations and provide them with an extended period of time to take advantage of potential market opportunities,” she said in a statement. In April, Shea increased by 50,000 the allowable catch of harp seals this season to 330,000. But only tens of thousands were caught at last count. A lack of sea ice in one of the warmest Canadian winters on record and a European ban on seal products were blamed for ruining what was to be a banner seal hunt. Most of Canada’s 6,000 sealers stayed home, unable to find buyers for their catch or stymied by a lack of ice floes for the first time in 60 years on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, which usually host hordes of seals birthing pups. Only a single ship launched from the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf, while fewer than 50 sealing ships launched from Newfoundland ports, down from 500 in past years. …

Struggling seal hunt to limp on