YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW: CANADIAN FISH

The Co-op believes that customers have the right to know about the products they buy. This leaflet provides balanced information on the issues involved.

Statement from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is the world's largest animal welfare organisation with 1.5 million supporters. It was founded in 1969 by Welshman Brian Davies, who pledged to stop the slaughter of Canadian seals. Now IFAW has campaigners around the world who fight to protect animals everywhere.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has lunched a boycott of Canadian fish, including tinned salmon. This is as a protest aimed at stopping Canada's annual seal hunt.

• The Canadians want to slaughter huge numbers of seal again and all attempts to dissuade them have so far failed.

• New moves by the Canadian Government mean that fishermen are actually being paid taxpayer's money to kill seals. A new 'sports' hunt means that anyone with a gun licence can join in the slaughter.

• Canadian sealers shoot and club seals from when the animals are just 2 weeks old. Many are shot and not recovered from the water. It is the largest marine mammal hunt in the world where up to 186,000 seals can be slaughtered every year. This figure does not include animals killed or injured and lost in the sea.

• The Canadian Government is aggressively marketing cheap seal products to China. The most valued part of a seal is the penis which is used in aphrodisiacs.

• Seals are once again ending up as fur coats - the unwanted seal meat is fed to fox and mink incarcerated in fur farms.

• Trade in seal parts could result in species of seals being wiped out around the world.

Statement from the Canadian Government

Canada's government is committed to the responsible and sustainable management of the living resources of the oceans.

The seal harvest is conducted in a humane manner and in no way is the sustained health of the total seal population threatened. The harvest is strictly controlled and regulated. Licences, as well as training in humane harvesting methods, are required. There is a ban on the harvest of baby seal pups (known as Whitecoats). The size of the harvest is based on an annual plan which is developed after extensive scientific analysis and founded on the principle of responsible management of the marine ecosystem.

Contrary to IFAW Allegations:


• There is no "sports" hunt of seals and no such licence exists. Only two types of licences are issued annually. Commercial licences, which are awarded each year, involve stringent licensing requirements which are rigorously enforced. These requirements include training as well as regulations to ensure a safe and humane harvest. Personal use licences are awarded only to certified residents living in communities adjacent to established sealing areas in Newfoundland and parts of Quebec. These individuals are permitted to harvest annually up to six seals for food.

• The Government of Canada is committed to a policy of encouraging the fullest possible utilization of each seal taken in the harvest. The Government of Canada is publicly opposed to the killing of seals for the purpose of taking only the "male organs". Seals are not harvested for their penises alone. Seal organs are by-products of the seal harvest, but they have never been the basis for the hunt.

• The population of harp seals on the east coast of Canada has doubled since 1981 and now stands at 4.8 million. The seal population is abundant and growing, and not in danger of being "wiped out". Seals are implicated in the depletion of the cod stocks of the Northwest Atlantic.

• The annual seal harvest, while of economic significance to some Canadians, benefits the marine ecosystem during a period of severe stress. A number of mainstream environmental groups agree that a controlled harvest of the seal herd is appropriate. The Canadian Government shares this view.

The people of Canada appreciate and value our marine resources. We believe that as responsible users of these resources, we can renew, conserve and use these resources for the social, environmental and economic betterment of all Canadians.