Seal hunters return

The week's news at a glance.

Cap-aux-Meules, Canada

The commercial hunt for baby harp seals has undergone a quiet revival in Canada, The New York Times reported this week. Sales of seal skins collapsed in the 1980s, after animal-rights activists campaigned against seal hunting by airing films of men clubbing white-coated pups to death in the snow. The U.S. and Europe banned seal-fur imports, and Canada sharply limited the hunt. This year the Canadian government decided to allow the killing of 350,000 baby seals, the most in 50 years. The boom has been fueled by new markets in Russia and Poland. Activists responded with a new campaign featuring T-shirts saying, “Club Sandwiches, Not Seals.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up