Paul and Heather McCartney to observe seal pups before start of hunt <=ynmain><=storybody>
ALISON AULDTue Feb 28, 5:23 PM ET
HALIFAX (CP) - Opponents of Canada's seal hunt acquired a powerful ally in their fight to ban the disputed practice as Paul McCartney pledged Tuesday to venture out on to the ice floes in a bid to save the furry mammals.
The former Beatle and his wife Heather plan to land a helicopter somewhere in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Thursday and Friday to observe harp seal pups before the annual hunt begins, according to the Humane Society of the United States.
Rebecca Aldworth said the megastar and his wife, longtime animal rights activists, are hoping to press the federal government to end the hunt and draw attention to a species that has been a favourite cause for a cast of celebrities.
"They are taking a very strong stand against the commercial seal hunt and are going to be devoting their energies to making this a global issue," Aldworth, the society's director of Canadian wildlife issues, said Tuesday from Montreal.
"So they're there to make a strong statement about that to the Canadian government."
Aldworth said the couple plan to be in touch with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to urge his government to end the hunt.
Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said Canada is not going to terminate the annual practice, insisting it is the most regulated hunt in the world.
"I would encourage Mr. McCartney when he comes here to see the effect this is having on the economy and to realize this is sustaining people in their home communities," he said in Ottawa, adding that he's not concerned about the effect his visit could have.
"We hear this every single year. We started with Brigitte Bardot . . . but the majority of people are not fooled by 20-year-old pictures of baby seals being killed on the ice."
The British government is also considering banning the import of seal goods and groups like Respect for Animals, which is co-ordinating the McCartneys' visit, are encouraging people not to travel to the country as a sign of their opposition to the hunt.
"There is pressure building up from all quarters and with the increased levels of publicity now if I was the Canadian government I would be absolutely stupid not to ban it," Mark Glover of Repect for Animals said from Nottingham, England.
The group contends that a million seals have been killed in the last three years, with many of them being skinned alive after being shot or clubbed, according to a release on their website.
Still, some sealers say the aging musician should keep his nose out of a business that has kept their communities afloat for centuries.
"He'll go out there and cuddle up to a whitecoat and they look beautiful, you can't get away from that and it is cruel, you can't get away from that either, but it's something we've done for 500 years," said Jack Troake, a 70-year-old sealer in Twillingate, N.L., who plans on joining the hunt this season.
"It's helped to sustain us. We go to bed with a full stomach, a tight roof over our head. It's part of our culture, our history."
The couple might have trouble getting their message out since mild weather has prevented the formation of many ice floes, where the harp and hooded seals give birth to their pups.
Frank Ring of the federal Department of Fisheries said it's not clear when or if the hunt will go ahead because of the high temperatures, adding an expected cold snap could thicken now-thin patches of ice.
If they get out there, the McCartneys' hope to boost public condemnation of an industry - described as the world's largest annual slaughter of marine mammals - that 20 years ago seemed doomed.
At the time, celebrities like Bardot and Martin Sheen pushed to have it stopped amid a worldwide campaign that featured graphic photos of doe-eyed whitecoats, or baby harp seals, being bludgeoned on the ice floes.
The protests worked. The United States moved to ban the import of seal products in 1972, and the European Union instituted a partial ban in 1983.
Prices plummeted to as low as $5 per seal pelt, and in 1987 the Canadian government banned the killing of whitecoats.
The protesters went away, but the industry didn't die - by the mid-1990s, new markets opened up, the price for pelts started to rise and the sealing industry's efforts to encourage humane harvesting practices limited the impact of renewed protests.
As a result, both the industry and the seal population bounced back.
In 2003, Ottawa announced a three-year management plan with a quota of 975,000 seals over three years, angering conservation groups who resumed their protests.
In 2004, the federal government estimated there were 5.9 million harp seals on the East Coast, up from two million in the early 1970s, and the value of the hunt was pegged at $16 million a year.
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Facts about the annual seal hunt off Canada's East Coast:
Species: There are six species of seals off the Atlantic coast - harp, hooded, grey, ringed, bearded and harbour. Almost all hunting is directed at harp seals.
Hunters: In 2004, there were 15,468 licences issued to seal hunters. The industry was valued at $16 million.
Profession: Licensed sealers must apprentice under a professional sealer for two years.
Quotas: During 2003-2005, the catch limit for harp seals was set at 975,000. The limit for hooded seals was set at 10,000. The limits have yet to be set for 2006.
Areas: 90 per cent of sealers on the Front - the area off the east coast of Newfoundland where the majority of the hunt occurs - use rifles. Sealers in the Iles de la Madeleine and on Quebec's Lower North Shore traditionally use clubs or hakapiks.
Season: The majority of sealing occurs between March and May. In 2005, the main hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence started March 29. The main hunt on the Front opened April 12. No dates have been set for 2006.
Population: The number of harp seals off the East Coast is estimated at five million, almost triple what it was in the 1970s.
Pay: A top-quality seal pelt can fetch about $70, which is near the record high.
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