Animal rights groups threaten Nova Scotia with court to end grey seal hunt

Halifax - Animal rights groups say they are considering taking Nova Scotia and seal hunters to court to prevent a repeat of the grey seal hunt on Hay Island, a protected wilderness area off Cape Breton.

Officials from Humane Society International and the Atlantic Canada Anti-Sealing Coalition, which spent a couple of days observing the hunt, released pictures and video on Monday of seals being clubbed and skinned, evidence they said of a "violent slaughter."

"We want to hold the Nova Scotia government accountable so that we don't ever see this again," said society spokesperson Rebecca Aldworth.

"The fishing industry is trying to scapegoat grey seals for its own destructive fishing practices."

Nova Scotia Fisheries Minister Ron Chisholm said his department was looking to protect fish species around Hay Island when he authorized a cull earlier this month.

The island is designated a protected wilderness area and approval was needed from the province's environment minister to allow the seals to be killed.

Aldworth said the province had broken its own law by allowing hunters into the area because there is no proof grey seals are a threat to biodiversity or that their feeding habits are depleting indigenous fish stocks.

"This is not about culling seals to protect fish stocks. It's a commercial endeavour," she said. "This was about allowing an industry to go in and kill baby seals for their skins to make money."

Hunters were given permission to take up to 2,500 animals but fisheries officials said they had only taken 1,261.

Bruce Nunn, a spokesman for the provincial Environment Department, said the minister acted on "compelling evidence" from fisheries officials on the impact the seals were having.

"The minister has the discretion under the Wilderness Protection Act to permit an activity that would otherwise be prohibited for restoration or preservation of the indigenous biodiversity of the area," said Nunn.

"He accepted their concerns and that is why he allowed this to go ahead for this year only."

Federal fisheries officials oversaw the 16 to 18 fishermen who participated in the hunt.

"They went out, kept up their logs and most importantly they conducted themselves in a very professional way to ensure it was a humane harvest," said Gus van Helvoort, a spokesman for the Fisheries Department.

He said the hunt was overseen by officers from federal fisheries, the provincial natural resources department and the RCMP.