Canadian seal hunt in data
How did the EU seal product import bans affect the number of seals killed in Canada’s commercial seal hunt?
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Data Highlights and Trends:
The Canadian seal hunt was, for many decades, the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth.
It is a hunt with a long history, dating back to the seventeenth century, fueled by an increasing demand for seal products.
By the 1860s as many as 10,000 Newfoundlanders and 200 boats were involved with the hunt.
More recently, the numbers of seals killed can be more accurately reported.
From 1960 to 1971, the year when Canadian government quotas were introduced, 3.33 million seals were slaughtered - an average of 277,500 a year.
Following quotas being set, 1.756 million seals were killed from 1972 to 1982, an average of 159,670 seals a year.
International outcry and opposition to the hunt, which mostly targeted new born ‘whitecoat’ harp seal pups and ‘blueback’ hooded seal pups led to the European Economic Community (as it was then) banning the import of furskins from these baby seals. The EEC was the main market for the seal products.
The impact of the ban can be seen by comparing the same period (11 years) after the ban came into effect with that of the 1972 to 1982 figures. From 1983 to 1993, 548,900 seals were killed - an average of 49,900 a year (compared with 159,670 a year prior to the ban).
From 1996 the sealing industry targetted slightly older seals, once they had undergone their first moult which, typically was when the seals were just a few weeks old, thereby getting round the European import ban.
During the next ten years (1999 to 2008) the numbers of seals slaughtered increased dramatically (Total: 2.66 million, average: 265,800 a year).
This resulted, once again, in European action, prompted by public protest. In 2009, the European Union (as it had become) introduced a general ban on the placing of seal products on the EU market in response to the concerns of EU citizens. The ban was amended in 2015 but the central ban on commercial seal products remained in place.
During the next 10 years in Canada, 635,900 seals were killed - an average of 63,590 a year - less than a quarter of the numbers killed prior to this ban.
The decrease in the number of seals killed continued with a further major decline towards the last years of the dataset (2021-2022).
Key Observations:
The 2010s and 2020s mark a clear trend of reducing seal killings, with particularly low numbers seen in the most recent years.
Significant declines in seal killings, during the 1980s and after 2009 are closely related to EEC/EU trade bans as well as increasing international pressure for animal welfare and conservation. Here’s how the decline connects to these events:
EU Trade Bans and Legislation:
In 2009, the European Union passed a ban on seal products, which went into full effect in 2010. This was a significant piece of legislation aimed at ending the commercial trade in seal fur and other products within the EU.
The ban was introduced following mounting pressure from animal rights groups, scientists, and the general public who were concerned about the inhumane methods used in seal hunting (especially concerning young seals).
The 2009 ban was deemed necessary since the sealing industry had found a way round the earlier (1983) EEC ban on the import of fur from ‘whitecoat’, harp seal pups and ‘blueback’, hooded seal pups by waiting a few weeks before killing the seals.
The EU Seal Products Regulation (No. 1007/2009) prohibited the import and sale of seal products in the EU, with exceptions only for aboriginal subsistence hunting and products that are not linked to commercial trade.
Impact of the EU Ban on Seal Killings:
The ban on trade in seal products made the commercial hunting of seals economically less viable, especially for Canada.
Before the ban, countries like Canada and Norway were major exporters of seal products, and the EU was a significant market for these products. The ban reduced demand, making seal hunting less profitable.
As a result, countries that participated in seal hunting faced economic pressures to reconsider or reduce their hunting practices, as the global market for seal products became limited.
Connection to the Decline in Seal Killings:
From 2010 onwards, seal killings sharply declined, which can be seen in the data. For example, 2009 recorded 354,900 seals killed, but by 2021, that number dropped to 2,100 seals.
The EU trade ban likely played a crucial role in this decline, as it eliminated a large market for seal products. This would have led to fewer financial incentives for countries to engage in large-scale seal hunting.
While the ban was not the only factor in this decline, it certainly acted as a strong deterrent for seal hunting in countries that had relied on trade with the EU.