Fur seals face a convergence of welfare threats from commercial hunts, fishing bycatch entanglement, and warming oceans.
The commercial seal hunt uses hakapik clubs and firearms; inadequate application means seals are sometimes skinned while conscious. Drowning in fishing gear causes prolonged distress. Nursing pups separated from mothers by ice fragmentation from climate change starve. The combination of direct hunting and ecosystem disruption creates a severe welfare crisis for pinniped populations.