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NUNAVUT - The federal government is proposing new regulations on seal hunting aimed at making the harvest more humane.

The proposed regulations, posted in the Canada Gazette on Dec. 27, modify the three-step process of harvesting seals, including the stunning, checking and bleeding of the animals.

The federal government is proposing new regulations on seal hunting it says would make harvesting the animals more humane. - NNSL file photo

According to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the primary aim of the amendments is to align sealing practices with the recommendations of the International Veterinarians' Working Group (IVWG).

"The proposed amendments prescribe a more humane hunting method which would eliminate unnecessary pain and suffering and would provide sealers with a reliable method for checking death," DFO stated in its attached analysis.

In light of the European Union's proposed ban on seal products, the regulations are also aimed at appeasing the animal welfare concerns of the industry's key market.

But according to Barry Rashotte, DFO's director general of resource management, the EU's criteria in the proposed European ban are still unclear.

"Trying to address the EU criteria is probably secondary," he said. "We don't know what the criteria actually are because they're still changing them and they're going through their process there and amending them."

Under the new regulations, sealers would be prohibited from using a hakapik or club for seals older than one year.

While the majority of seals harvested are under younger than a year, the veterinary group recommended any older seals be killed by rifle, as the thickness of their skulls makes clubbing less effective and therefore less humane.

"It was mainly to avoid using a club on an older animal when the first clubbing of the animal would not render it unconscious," said Rashotte.

Another requirement is that sealers verify death solely through palpation of the skull, as opposed to the blinking reflex test, which is not always reliable.

Sealers would also be required to bleed the animals for one minute prior to skinning.

Last week, hunters and trappers organizations (HTO) and sealers across the Nunavut were unaware of the proposed changes.

"We haven't heard about any regulations," said Phillip Manik, Resolute's economic development officer and HTO board member.

He that sealing isn't profitable enough for local hunters to make a living from their harvests. As a result, most of the seal hunts are for sustenance and to provide dogs with meat.

"The price is too low, so it's not worth selling them," said Manik. "Some people still make mitts and boots, but very few."

With regards to harvesting seals, it is all done with rifles, he added.

"We don't use clubs up here," Manik said.

As for Rashotte, he does not predict the amendments will have a significant effect on sealing in the North.

"I don't see any impacts on the hunts in the North with respect to the regulations," he said. "With respect to what they can use to dispatch the animal, they can use the traditional methods they've always used."