NUNAVUT - The government of Nunavut is calling an American proposal to list several subspecies of seals as threatened under their Endangered Species Act when their numbers are not in decline as "misguided and senseless."

Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk said he was "very disappointed" with the decision to list several subspecies of seals as threatened. - NNSL file photo

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing to list as threatened two populations of bearded seals and four subspecies of ringed seal, including one found throughout Nunavut waters. NOAA cited diminishing sea ice and reduced snow cover as a reason for the listing.

Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk said he was "very disappointed" with the decision, adding it is based on "skeptical information."

"It's just nothing concrete. They're speculating," said Shewchuk from Mexico.

He said the government will work with the territory's Inuit organizations, the Fur Institute of Canada and the Canadian government to respond to the American proposal and lobby its government, hoping it will change their mind.

The import of seal products into the U.S. is already prohibited by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, so the proposal, should it go forward, would not have direct implications on the sale of Nunavut seal products.

The listing would also not affect Inuit seal harvesting rights but it might give animal rights groups opposed to sealing more ammunition, said Shewchuk.

"The impacts will be in the marketing of the seals, further down the line, where our whole market of seals depends on whether or not we can sell seals to other countries," he said. "With this proposed listing, I think there is going to be misinformation and people are going to see this in the wrong way."

Ringed seal populations are healthy and abundant, the territorial government stated in a press release, adding it disagrees with the logic of listing ringed seals as threatened without data showing the population is declining.

Qikiqtani Inuit Association president Okalik Eegeesiak said she is "very surprised" with the proposal.

"I don't know what they are basing their position on. Inuit don't feel seals are endangered. We know they are not endangered," she said. "It's just another indication that somebody far away who doesn't eat seal or depend on seal is making decisions that affect our lives once again."

The QIA, along with Canadian and Greenlandic Inuit, launched a legal action earlier this year against the European Union to annul its seal import ban regulation and seek interim injunctions while the main case proceeds.

The NOAA is collecting comments from the public for 60 days and has 12 months to decide on the proposal.

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