IFAW Condemns Conservative Government's Attempt to Hide Outrageous Seal Hunt Quota (280,000 pups)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.zibb.com/article/5098515/IFAW+Condemns+Conservative+Government+s+Attempt+to+Hide+Outrageous+Seal+Hunt+Quota

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Mar 20, 2009 (Marketwire via COMTEX) --

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has denounced today's announcement by the Government of Canada that it will allow the slaughter of 280,000 harp seal pups this year.

"This is outrageous" said Sheryl Fink, Senior Researcher at IFAW. "This quota is completely indefensible. It's not supported by markets, it's not supported by the DFO's own management plan, and it's certainly not going to be supported by the majority of Canadians."

"For the past two years we've seen saturated markets for seal fur, and pelt prices are now the lowest in recent memory. If this is a market-based hunt, as the government claims, the quota for this year should be zero."

IFAW also criticized the fact that a quota of 280,000 exceeds the level that government scientists say is needed to keep within their management plan. "DFO scientists have publicly said that a quota of this size will deplete the harp seal population by more than 30%. Today's announcement proves what we've been saying all along, that this management plan is a facade, to be abandoned when it doesn't fit the Minister's political agenda."

FULL story at link.