The European Parliament overwhelmingly passed on Tuesday a trade ban for seal products. The European Union was a market for a third of the world's seal trade. The ban is to take effect in October and marks a significant victory in the effort to end the annual Canadian seal hunt, the world's largest. An average of 300,000 harp seals (pagophilus groenlandicus) are killed, usually by clubbing, or shot with rifles. The new rule bans all seal products from commercial hunting which the body said is "inherently inhumane". The measure allows narrow exceptions for traditional subsistence hunting by indigenous groups or small scale hunts to manage populations, but the products of those hunts will also not be allowed into commerce in the EU.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Harp Seal Pups Get Help
The European Parliament overwhelmingly passed on Tuesday a trade ban for seal products. The European Union was a market for a third of the world's seal trade. The ban is to take effect in October and marks a significant victory in the effort to end the annual Canadian seal hunt, the world's largest. An average of 300,000 harp seals (pagophilus groenlandicus) are killed, usually by clubbing, or shot with rifles. The new rule bans all seal products from commercial hunting which the body said is "inherently inhumane". The measure allows narrow exceptions for traditional subsistence hunting by indigenous groups or small scale hunts to manage populations, but the products of those hunts will also not be allowed into commerce in the EU.