Seal quota hike disastrous: U.S. group

A U.S.seal hunt protest group says increasing the quota for harp seals will lead to what it calls an "ecological disaster" on Canada's East Coast.

The Humane Society of the United States said the hunt should be cancelled, given the scant ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off Newfoundland this year.

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced earlier this week the quota will increase by 50,000 animals, bringing the totalpermitted harvest for harp, hooded and grey seals to 388,200.

The group shot video of the ice conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by helicopter almost two weeks ago.

They saw a few small pans of ice and a handful of seal pups,said the U.S. organization'sCanadian director, Rebecca Aldworth.

'We're going to see very high pup mortalities this year.' Rebecca Aldworth, Humane Society

Usually, there'd be more ice, and more seals in the gulf, she said.

The group believes mothers have aborted their pups at sea because there's no ice to give birth on, Aldworth added.

There's more icealong what's called "the front" off Newfoundland, Aldworth said, but she added that it's fragile and will soon be breaking up.

"So we're going to see very high pup mortalities this year. The fact that the Canadian government is allowing [the] 2010 commercial seal hunt to go ahead, allowing sealers to go out there and club and shoot to death every surviving seal pup they find, is absolutely unacceptable," Aldworth said.

Fisheries officials set hunt dates

No one from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was available for an interview Tuesday. However, a spokesperson said that dates for the hunt will be set and DFO officials will be coming to P.E.I.

Fisheries officials give out observer permits for hunt protestors and media that arrive annually.

The department said it doesn't determine whether the hunt goes ahead. Sealers decide whether they'll hunt or not.

That's passing the buck to the people who make money from the hunt, Aldworth said. She added Shea should take a precautionary approach and cancel the hunt this year.

The huntnormally takes place in late March in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and several weeks lateroff Newfoundland's northeast coast.