ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – The Newfoundland and Labrador government is calling on Ottawa to present a plan for preventing a proposed Europe-wide ban on seal products.
The European Union is considering a ban on the import of seal products amid increased pressure from animal rights groups.
Tom Rideout, the province’s fisheries minister, says he wants to know whether the federal government is considering any counter bans.
The province also says it wants to know what the federal government’s position is on the hakapik, which is used to club seals and drag their carcasses across the ice.
The premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut want to ban the spiked club – one of the most contentious images of the controversial Canadian seal hunt.
The majority of the annual slaughter occurs off Newfoundland and Labrador, and the province says sealers have stated that 35 per cent of their annual incomes come from the hunt.
