Dutch seal shelter to open in Canada

RNW, 26 March 2011

A Dutch seal shelter is to open a second a second facility in Canada hoping to sway public opinion to ban seal hunts completely.

The shelter, based in the northern province of Groningen, will open the facility in Nova Scotia. It set up its first facility in Canada three years ago. A Canadian volunteer is currently being trained in the Netherlands.

The news comes on the same day that the Canadian authorities set the quota of seals to be killed this year at nearly 500,000, a 20 percent increase over last year. Since 2007, annual quotas have risen every year.

Hunted for their fur and meat, most seals are clubbed to death. Worldwide, some 900,000 seals are killed every year, more than half of them in Canada.

Earlier this month, Lenie 't Hart, who founded the Groningen seal shelter 40 years ago, announced she was retiring.

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Seal hunters kill a seal

EU seal pelts import ban dispute goes to WTO court

Canada's seal ban appeal goes to WTO panel

Canada, which has argued that its annual seal hunt
is conducted humanely, is challenging the European
Union's ban on the import of seal products. A WTO
dispute panel will be assembled to hear the case.
((Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press))

Mystery as ‘corkscrew’ kills Scottish seals

Daily Mail, By MAIL ON SUNDAY REPORTER, 15th August 2010

Dozens of seals are dying from unexplained ‘corkscrew’ injuries, prompting the launch of a Scottish Government investigation.

Seven incidents involving common and grey seals, such as the one pictured below, were reported in the past two months alone in St Andrews Bay and the Firth of Forth, Scottish officials said.

Carcasses washed ashore showing a single, smooth-edged cut starting at the head and spiralling around the body. Experts do not believe the injuries were caused by fishing nets or boat propellers.

'Strange deaths': Seven incidents involving common and grey seals were reported in Scotland in the last two months

Environment Minister Richard Lochhead said: ‘It’s critical that we establish the cause of these strange deaths and do all we can to protect our seal populations, particularly as numbers have reduced in recent years. I would encourage anyone who encounters a seal carcass to contact the Sea Mammal Research Unit.’

In total, 33 seals have washed up along the east coast of England and Scotland, including six in St Andrews Bay and the Firth of Forth in 2008 and 2009.

Similar incidents have been reported in Norfolk and off the Canadian coast.

Mr Lochhead has asked scientists from the University of St Andrews to investigate.

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Is ocean life being wiped out?