Russia Bans Seal Imports

Animal rights activists say the move spells an end to Canada's sealing industry.

Russia (and Belarus and Kazakhstan, but come on, as far as we're concerned, just Russia) has banned all imports of harp seal products, meaning Canada's sealing industry will no longer be able to sell products in what was its largest market. The ban, which was uncovered by the animal rights group International Fund for Animal Welfare in an obscure World Trade Organisation document, follows a similar ban enacted by the European Union in 2009. Until now, Russia had been the destination of 90 per cent of all Canadian harp seal pelts, but the ban could finish what the EU ban started: an end to one of Canada's most controversial industries, one which employs about 11,000 people, mostly in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. There's no word on the status for products made from other seal species, such as grey seals, but harp seals make up the vast majority of Canada's yearly seal harvest. This year's harvest only produced about 38,000 pelts, or about 10 per cent of what the federal government permits in a year, owing to a lack of demand for seal products.