Science Advisory Report  2013/010

Effectiveness of methods used to kill seals in Canada’s commercial seal hunt, with particular emphasis on grey seals (Halichoerus grypus)

Summary

• The NW Atlantic grey seal population has increased markedly over the last few decades and there is interest in developing a commercial harvest for this species.
• The skull of grey seal beaters is almost twice as thick as that of harp seal beaters, primarily along its top.
• Using a hakapik under controlled conditions, the effective force required to crush the skull was lower for harp seal than for grey seal beaters, but this difference was not significant, likely because of the small number of skulls tested.
• Under field conditions, both the club and the hakapik were considered effective tools to cause rapid, if not immediate, death of grey seal beaters.
• Time to bleed out grey seal beaters was less than the legal requirement. When both axillary arteries were severed, grey seals bled out in an average time of 18 seconds, and all seals bled out in less than 1 minute.
• Owing to the greater thickness of grey seal beater skulls, fragmentation was not as evident as in harp seal beater skulls. This was because the skulls of grey seals tended to break into fewer larger pieces that were more difficult to detect by palpation through skin and blubber. The damage resulted in death in a way that respects animal welfare concerns, but grey seals may require more blows than harp seals to ensure that legal requirements that the skull be crushed, as indicated by palpation, are met.
• The .17 HMR rifle cartridge was tested as an alternative to the club and the hakapik for killing grey seal beaters and proved to be effective at tested distances of up to 2 m.
• The presence of numerous metal fragments in radiographs of several skulls showed that the bullets used with a .17 HMR rifle cartridge fragment easily, thus minimizing the risk of ricochets.

This Science Advisory Report is from the October 29 to November 2, 2012 Annual meeting of the National Marine Mammal Peer Review Committee. Additional publications from this meeting will be posted as they become available on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Science Advisory Schedule.

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