UPDATE: Canada Loses Europe As Seal Goods Customer — And Fails To Dilute EU Ban. A sweeping ban on import-export of seal goods across European Union nations takes effect 8/20/10, with exemptions for native Canadian Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and 15 more commercial sealers who request a moratorium until Europe's top court rules definitively. But in October 2010 European Judge Marc Jaeger rejects the plaintiff plea, in truth, a Canadian government sponsored attempt to save the commercial harp seal hunt. The court activates a comprehensive ban while the European Court of Justice decides its long-term legality. Judge Jaeger throws out the notion that a seal goods embargo leads to steep financial damage and suicide among Inuit youth. Still, we can expect many more legal challenges from the Canadian government.

U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Against Canada Sealing5/7/09: Passed by unanimous consent without amendment, S.Res.84 urges the Canadian government to prohibit commercial hunting of seals and supports for the European Union's unconditional ban on seal goods.

Canadian Sealers Lose Prime Customer: Europe!5/5/09: The European Parliament votes overwhelmingly to ban seal goods from import-export across the European Union's 27 nations. In a positive leap for seals, whom Kinship Circle and animal groups worldwide have labored to save through action and education, Canada loses a major chunk of an already weak market for seal parts. Rebecca Aldworth, director of Humane Society International Canada, calls the ban a historic moment in the campaign to stop commercial seal hunts around the world. Kinship Circle also salutes Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for past interventions on the bloody ice floes.

Threat Of Eu Ban Looms Over Canada Seal Hunt3/23/09: The world's largest marine mammal slaughter opens under pressure of a potential European Union ban on seal imports. A European Parliament committee calls the hunt inherently inhumane. Animal advocacy groups say the massacre is difficult to monitor and ravages seal populations. Sealers market pelts in Europe, Russia and China, along with blubber and oil. Canadian authorities contend animals are killed quickly and have warned they will challenge a ban as a violation of world trade rules. In fact, documentation shows baby seals shot, bludgeoned, kicked and thrashed with razor-sharp hakapiks. In horrific pain and fear, they bleed-out on white snow.

Russia Enacts Partial Seal Hunt Ban3/18/09: Russian Minister of Natural Resources Yuriy Trutnev announces a ban on hunting harp seals under 1 year in age. Confirmation of the ban follows last month's directive to ban slaughter of unmoulted whitecoat harp seal pups and adults in the White Sea. The moves place Russia ahead of Canada, in terms of government response to public opinion. Minister Trutnev says, “NGOs actively upheld their position against this hunt, raised public awareness and by all means contributed to the passage of a ban on the seal hunt in Russia.” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin calls seal hunts a “bloody industry that should should have been banned years ago.”

• 2022 Kill Quota: Unannounced; 27,266 Harp Seals Killed
• 2016 Kill Quota: 400,000 Harp Seals
• 2009 Kill Quota: 338,200 Harp Seals
• 2008 Kill Quota: 275,000 Harp Seals
• 2007 Kill Quota: 270,000 Harp Seals
• 2006 Kill Quota: 335,000 Harp Seals

Canada Unveils Killing Rules For A Kinder Seal Hunt3/10/08: In an absurd public relations move, Canada attempts to frame its annual mass slaughter of seals as “kinder and more humane.” New standards call for hunters to sever seal arteries after animals are shot or clubbed, to ensure quick and minimally painful death. The rules arrive on the heels of a European Food Safety Authority “scientific opinion” that says seals are left to die slowly in pain.