Canadians and the Commercial Seal Hunt

Over One Half of Canadians Call for Commercial Seal Hunting Shutdown

The largest public opinion survey ever undertaken concerning Canadians' views on the commercial seal hunt was released today.

Commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Canada), the Angus Reid Group study finds that a sizable minority (41%) of Canadians do not even realize that the commercial seal hunt continues to take place in Atlantic Canada.

When presented with several details regarding the continuance and various aspects of the hunt, a majority of Canadians (55%) support closing the commercial seal hunt -- eleven percent support closing the seal hunt completely, with another 44 percent advocating closure but allowing an exception for hunting by aboriginals and others for personal or subsistence use.

Most significantly, 85 percent of respondents feel that all seals less than one year old should be protected from hunting, and 75 percent do not want the federal government to subsidize the hunt.

Interestingly, a majority of Newfoundlanders (54%) are opposed to government subsidization of the hunt.

The nation-wide telephone survey of 2,715 randomly selected Canadian adults was conducted between July 25th and July 30th, 1997. A sample size of 2,715 is said to have a margin of error of 1771.9 percentage points.

Overview of Key Findings

A Significant Number of Canadians Unaware that Seal Hunt Actually Continues

• Four in ten (41%) Canadians do not even realize that the commercial seal hunt continues to take place in Atlantic Canada. This is in contrast with six in ten (59%) who are aware that seals are currently being hunted on a commercial basis off Canada's Atlantic coast. The proportion of respondents who are unaware that the hunt continues ranges from a surprisingly large 30 percent in Newfoundland to 48 percent in Quebec and 47 percent in New Brunswick/Nova Scotia/PEI.
• The survey also found that most Canadians have only sketchy knowledge of the specific details of the hunt. As a result, respondents were presented with a series of statements and asked for their opinion.

Almost half (47%) of Canadians mistakenly believe that the government does not allow the hunting of seals that are less than one year of age -- another fifteen percent don't know. However, when informed, eighty-five percent of respondents feel that all seals less than one year old should be protected from hunting.

• Almost half of Canadians (47%) mistakenly believe that the government does not allow the hunting of seals less than one year of age -- another 15% "don't know". Interestingly, a majority of respondents in the Atlantic provinces believe that the government does not allow allow the hunting of seals that are less than one year of age -- as high as seventy-seven percent in Newfoundland.
• When informed that the commercial hunting of seals has increased dramatically over the last two years and that three quarters of the seals taken in the hunt were less than a year old, 72 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to support the seal hunt.

Three Quarters of the Public is Opposed to Government Subsidization of the Hunt

• Public opposition to government subsidies is high: fully 75 percent of respondents are opposed to the federal government subsidizing the hunt. Further, 73 percent feel that subsidizing the seal hunt is "a waste of taxpayers' money -- especially at a time when governments are cutting important public and social services".
• Interestingly, a majority of Newfoundlanders (54%) are opposed to government subsidization of the hunt.
  • In addition to high levels of public opposition to federal subsidies, many Canadians feel it is not even necessary to subsidize the hunt. Almost one in two Canadians (49%) believe the seal hunt is commercially viable -- that is, there is a big enough market for seal products to keep the industry alive on its own without government subsidies.

Canadians Underestimate Actual Seal Hunt Kill Numbers -- Only 4% Get it Right

• Canadians overwhelmingly underestimate the number of seals killed in the commercial hunt -- and, upon learning the actual number they feel it is too high. In fact, a majority (56%) believes that fewer than 150,000 seals were taken in last year's hunt, and most believe it was 50,000 or fewer. Four percent estimate the number of seals taken as being more than 300,000 and one quarter of respondents (24%) simply "don't know". Fifteen percent correctly identified the range of 150,000 to 300,000, but only four percent were able to pinpoint accurately a number between 250,000 and 300,000.
• When informed of the official government quota (283,000), 55% indicated that, in their view, this is "too high". Furthermore, upon learning that up to half a million harp seals, almost twice the quota, may have been killed in last year's hunt two thirds (67%) of Canadians said they would be less likely to support the commercial seal hunt.

Half of Canadians Outright Oppose Commercial Hunting of Seals. Given Options, Opposition to Commercial Seal Hunting Rises to 55%, with Exceptions Granted for Aboriginal and Personal Hunting

• One in two (50%) respondents oppose the commercial hunting of seals off Canada's Atlantic coast. More significantly, twice as many (32%) respondents strongly oppose the seal hunt as those who strongly support it (16%).
• At the end of the survey, after having discussed issues surrounding the seal hunt in Atlantic Canada, a plurality of Canadians (44%) "support closing the commercial seal hunt, and only allowing hunting by aboriginals and others for personal or subsistence use". One third (35%) "support leaving the seal hunt to operate pretty much as it does today", while only five percent would "support expanding the seal hunt to allow for more seals to be taken". One in ten (11%) respondents "support closing the seal hunt completely".

Canadians are Overwhelmingly Against the Sale of Seal Penises as Aphrodisiacs

• More than eight in ten (82%) respondents are less likely to support the seal hunt when informed that the major reason for the renewed commercial seal hunt is the growing market for seal penises which are sold as aphrodisiacs in Asian markets.

Canadians are Against the Cruel and Inhumane Treatment of Seals

• Three quarters (74%) are less likely to support the hunt when told that while the government says the hunt is properly managed and humane, video evidence from a wildlife protection group shows seals being shot and left to suffer, skinned alive, killed solely for their penises, caught on sharpened steel hooks or clubbed to death with illegal weapons. Similarly, seven in ten (71%) are less likely to support the hunt when told that despite the fact that the government has been trying to limit abuses in the hunt for over 30 years, there is still evidence of cruelty and waste. Last year over 100 sealers were charged with illegally killing protected baby seals and other cruelty offenses, including skinning seals alive.

Concern for the Decline of the Seal Population is High

• Two thirds (67%) of respondents are less likely to support the hunt upon hearing that one government official has admitted that up to half a million harp seals, almost twice the quota, were taken in last year's seal hunt and that scientists say this level of killing cannot be sustained and will lead to a decline in the seal population.

The Angus Reid Group was commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Canada) to conduct a public opinion survey of Canadians' attitudes toward the commercial seal hunt.

The Angus Reid Group conducted a nation-wide survey of 2,715 Canadian adults between July 25th and July 30th, 1997. A sample of this size is said to have an associated margin of error of 1771.9 percentage points of what the results would have been had the entire population been interviewed. The margin of error is greater within subsamples of the survey population.

This sample includes a nation-wide proportionate sample of 1,500 with oversamples in Newfoundland (N = 803), Quebec (N = 499) and British Columbia (N = 501). The actual number of completed interviews in each region is as follows: British Columbia - 501, Alberta - 140, Saskatchewan/Manitoba - 114, Ontario - 558, Quebec - 499, NB/NS/PEI - 99 and Newfoundland - 803.

The data were weighted to adjust for the oversampling, and to ensure that the sample's age and gender composition reflects that of the actual adult Canadian population according to the 1991 Census.

For more details, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Angus Reid Group, Inc.
(416) 324-2900

Laurie Kingston
Communications Coordinator
International Fund for Animal Welfare
Office: (613) 233-8458
Cellular: (613) 852-0589
www.ifaw.org