The Canadian commercial seal hunt kills hundreds of thousands of harp seals annually, with welfare concerns around clubbing methods, the killing of very young animals, and supervision standards.
Harp seal hunt welfare concerns focus on killing method, supervision, and the age of animals killed. Clubbing can cause death rapidly if applied correctly but requires a high standard of application that is difficult to guarantee at scale. Wounded seals that escape may suffer before dying. Three-week-old pups lack the mobility to escape and are killed in their natal environment. Veterinary assessments of seal hunt practices have documented welfare failures in a proportion of kills. The EU import ban reflects widespread public concern about hunt welfare. Climate change is reducing sea ice on which pup survival depends, adding a conservation dimension to an already contested practice.