Harp seals are found on or near ice floes from the Kara Sea of Russia west to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada . [5] It is illegal in Canada to hunt newborn harp seals (whitecoats) and young hooded seals (bluebacks). [10] They have a diverse diet which includes several dozen species of fish and invertebrates. This peak spring period is generally what is referred to as the "Canadian seal hunt". In Latin, its scientific name translates to "ice-lover from Greenland," and its taxonomic synonym, Phoca groenlandica translates to "Greenlandic seal."[2]. [76] The hunter has to have a hunting license and he/she is obliged to register all kills with the authorities. [17] Due to their dependence on pack ice for breeding, the harp seal range is restricted to areas where pack ice forms seasonally. [27], In Canada, commercial hunting season is from November 15 to May 15. Both sexes return each year to breeding grounds in Newfoundland, the Greenland Sea, and the White Sea. [9] A joint commission of scientists from Britain and the United States further considered the problem, and came to the conclusion that the pelagic sealing needed to be curtailed. In the years from 1971 to 1982, an average of 165,627 seals were killed. Learn about the cruel, ecologically irresponsible, and totally unnecessary seal hunt on Harpseals.org. Learn about the cruel, ecologically irresponsible, and totally unnecessary seal hunt on Harpseals.org. [88] In 2007, the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs stated up to 13.5 million Norwegian krone (about US$2.6 million) would be given in funding to vessels in the 2007 Norwegian seal hunt. Environment Canada, the weather forecasting agency, reported the ice was at the lowest level on record.[67].
[2] Dive depth varies with season, time of day and location.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada responded there is no connection between the annual seal harvest and the cod fishery, and that the seal hunt is "established on sound conservation principles. Harp seal populations in the northwest Atlantic declined to approximately 2 million in the late 1960s as a result of Canada's annual kill rates, which averaged to over 291,000 from 1952 to 1970. [2] Groups of several thousand form during pupping and mating season.

Learn about seals, including harp seals, hooded seals, harbor seals, grey seals, bearded seals, and ringed seals here. By law, observers must maintain a ten-meter distance between themselves and the sealers. The harp seal is both the best-known and among the most abundant of all seal species. Although the protection and the sustainable use of natural resources is part of Namibia's constitution, it claims to conduct the second largest seal hunt in the world,[82] mainly because of the huge amount of fish seals are estimated to consume. As of 2012, the population in Canada of the Northwest Atlantic harp seals is approximately 7.3 million animals, over three times what it was in the 1970s. Between 1793 and 1799 there was an average of sixty vessels in the trade.
Large-scale commercial seal hunting became an annual event starting in 1723 and expanded rapidly near the turn of the 18th century. Harp seals are the victims of the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world: the Canadian seal hunt. This fast can reduce their weight up to 50%. In March 2006, Brigitte Bardot traveled to Ottawa to protest the hunt, though the prime minister turned down her request for a meeting.