Canada's fisheries minister said Thursday 270,000 harp seals would be killed in its annual commercial hunt, deemed "the largest marine mammal massacre in the world" by animal rights groups.
The harvest is down 65,000 from last year due to "poor ice conditions" in seal breeding grounds in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Minister Loyola Hearn said in a statement.
Up to 20 percent of the Atlantic herd usually nests on thick ice floes in the southern Gulf region in February or March. But this year authorities and animal rights groups found only slush and ice fragments too small to support a newborn pup.
Ice floes in the northern Gulf and around Newfoundl and province where most of the seal hunting occurs remain in "good" condition, the minister said.
"We realize mortality will be higher than normal this year (in the southern Gulf)," a fisheries official said. "The ice continues to deteriorate, but there are seals there."
In the past three years, one million seals have been killed in the commercial hunt in eastern Canada. Demonstrators in Europe and Canada have denounced the "cruelty" of seal hunting.
But Ottawa maintains the hunt poses no threat to the seal population. "This year's quota will not pose any long-term threat to the herd," a fisheries official said.
"These decisions are guided by principles of conservation. I also want to ensure that the people who depend on this resource for their livelihood will benefit from it over the long-term," said Minister Hearn.
The Atlantic seal population has ballooned over the past three decades to almost 5.5 million, he said. Opening dates for the 2007 seal hunt will be announced in the coming days, the minister said.
中文鏈接：
加拿大漁業(yè)部長(zhǎng)于3月29日宣布，該國(guó)漁民將會(huì)在今年的年度商業(yè)捕獵活動(dòng)中殺死總共27萬(wàn)只格陵蘭海豹，而在一些動(dòng)物保護(hù)組織成員看來(lái)，這一行動(dòng)堪稱“當(dāng)今世界上對(duì)于海洋哺乳動(dòng)物的規(guī)模的屠殺”。
據(jù)法新社3月29日?qǐng)?bào)道，加拿大漁業(yè)部長(zhǎng)洛約拉赫恩在一份聲明中表示，該國(guó)圣勞倫斯海灣地區(qū)的南部是海豹的主要繁殖地，由于目前那里“海上浮冰的狀況非常糟糕”，所以今年確定的獵殺數(shù)量較之去年減少了6.5萬(wàn)只。
在那些生活于大西洋水域的海豹群體里，選擇在圣勞倫斯海灣地區(qū)的大塊厚浮冰上筑窩產(chǎn)崽者所占的比例高達(dá)20％。但該國(guó)有關(guān)*以及動(dòng)物保護(hù)組織今年在那里卻僅僅看到了正在融化的雪塊和零散的碎冰塊，它們的面積實(shí)在太小以至于無(wú)法為海豹幼崽提供一個(gè)合適的棲息環(huán)境。
不過(guò)這位部長(zhǎng)還表示，圣勞倫斯海灣地區(qū)的北部以及紐芬蘭省周邊地區(qū)的浮冰現(xiàn)狀“尚屬良好”，而對(duì)海豹的捕殺大部分都發(fā)生在上述兩地。
該國(guó)漁業(yè)部一位官員說(shuō)：“我們很清楚今年（圣勞倫斯海灣地區(qū)南部）海豹的死亡率會(huì)高于正常水平，海上浮冰的情況繼續(xù)趨于惡化，但我們還是仍然可以在那里見(jiàn)到海豹的身影?！?BR> 在過(guò)去3年里，總共已有100萬(wàn)只生活在加拿大東部地區(qū)的海豹死于商業(yè)捕獵活動(dòng)中。來(lái)自于歐洲和加拿大的*者在最近數(shù)周里對(duì)于這種“殘忍”的捕殺海豹的行為給予了嚴(yán)厲的譴責(zé)。
但加拿大政府依然堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為上述獵殺舉動(dòng)不會(huì)對(duì)海豹的數(shù)量構(gòu)成威脅。漁業(yè)部一位官員聲稱“今年制定的捕殺配額將不會(huì)對(duì)海豹群體形成任何長(zhǎng)期性的負(fù)面影響?！?BR> 洛約拉赫恩表示：“這些獵捕決定都是在有關(guān)動(dòng)物保護(hù)的原則指導(dǎo)下做出的。我還希望能夠使那些依靠海豹來(lái)維持生計(jì)的人們相信，他們可以從此種舉動(dòng)中獲取長(zhǎng)期的收益?！?BR> 赫恩同時(shí)還補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，大西洋地區(qū)海豹的總量在過(guò)去30年里已經(jīng)快速增長(zhǎng)到了550萬(wàn)只。按照這位部長(zhǎng)的說(shuō)法，2007年海豹捕殺行動(dòng)的開(kāi)始日期將會(huì)在今后數(shù)天內(nèi)對(duì)外公布。
The harvest is down 65,000 from last year due to "poor ice conditions" in seal breeding grounds in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Minister Loyola Hearn said in a statement.
Up to 20 percent of the Atlantic herd usually nests on thick ice floes in the southern Gulf region in February or March. But this year authorities and animal rights groups found only slush and ice fragments too small to support a newborn pup.
Ice floes in the northern Gulf and around Newfoundl and province where most of the seal hunting occurs remain in "good" condition, the minister said.
"We realize mortality will be higher than normal this year (in the southern Gulf)," a fisheries official said. "The ice continues to deteriorate, but there are seals there."
In the past three years, one million seals have been killed in the commercial hunt in eastern Canada. Demonstrators in Europe and Canada have denounced the "cruelty" of seal hunting.
But Ottawa maintains the hunt poses no threat to the seal population. "This year's quota will not pose any long-term threat to the herd," a fisheries official said.
"These decisions are guided by principles of conservation. I also want to ensure that the people who depend on this resource for their livelihood will benefit from it over the long-term," said Minister Hearn.
The Atlantic seal population has ballooned over the past three decades to almost 5.5 million, he said. Opening dates for the 2007 seal hunt will be announced in the coming days, the minister said.
中文鏈接：
加拿大漁業(yè)部長(zhǎng)于3月29日宣布，該國(guó)漁民將會(huì)在今年的年度商業(yè)捕獵活動(dòng)中殺死總共27萬(wàn)只格陵蘭海豹，而在一些動(dòng)物保護(hù)組織成員看來(lái)，這一行動(dòng)堪稱“當(dāng)今世界上對(duì)于海洋哺乳動(dòng)物的規(guī)模的屠殺”。
據(jù)法新社3月29日?qǐng)?bào)道，加拿大漁業(yè)部長(zhǎng)洛約拉赫恩在一份聲明中表示，該國(guó)圣勞倫斯海灣地區(qū)的南部是海豹的主要繁殖地，由于目前那里“海上浮冰的狀況非常糟糕”，所以今年確定的獵殺數(shù)量較之去年減少了6.5萬(wàn)只。
在那些生活于大西洋水域的海豹群體里，選擇在圣勞倫斯海灣地區(qū)的大塊厚浮冰上筑窩產(chǎn)崽者所占的比例高達(dá)20％。但該國(guó)有關(guān)*以及動(dòng)物保護(hù)組織今年在那里卻僅僅看到了正在融化的雪塊和零散的碎冰塊，它們的面積實(shí)在太小以至于無(wú)法為海豹幼崽提供一個(gè)合適的棲息環(huán)境。
不過(guò)這位部長(zhǎng)還表示，圣勞倫斯海灣地區(qū)的北部以及紐芬蘭省周邊地區(qū)的浮冰現(xiàn)狀“尚屬良好”，而對(duì)海豹的捕殺大部分都發(fā)生在上述兩地。
該國(guó)漁業(yè)部一位官員說(shuō)：“我們很清楚今年（圣勞倫斯海灣地區(qū)南部）海豹的死亡率會(huì)高于正常水平，海上浮冰的情況繼續(xù)趨于惡化，但我們還是仍然可以在那里見(jiàn)到海豹的身影?！?BR> 在過(guò)去3年里，總共已有100萬(wàn)只生活在加拿大東部地區(qū)的海豹死于商業(yè)捕獵活動(dòng)中。來(lái)自于歐洲和加拿大的*者在最近數(shù)周里對(duì)于這種“殘忍”的捕殺海豹的行為給予了嚴(yán)厲的譴責(zé)。
但加拿大政府依然堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為上述獵殺舉動(dòng)不會(huì)對(duì)海豹的數(shù)量構(gòu)成威脅。漁業(yè)部一位官員聲稱“今年制定的捕殺配額將不會(huì)對(duì)海豹群體形成任何長(zhǎng)期性的負(fù)面影響?！?BR> 洛約拉赫恩表示：“這些獵捕決定都是在有關(guān)動(dòng)物保護(hù)的原則指導(dǎo)下做出的。我還希望能夠使那些依靠海豹來(lái)維持生計(jì)的人們相信，他們可以從此種舉動(dòng)中獲取長(zhǎng)期的收益?！?BR> 赫恩同時(shí)還補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，大西洋地區(qū)海豹的總量在過(guò)去30年里已經(jīng)快速增長(zhǎng)到了550萬(wàn)只。按照這位部長(zhǎng)的說(shuō)法，2007年海豹捕殺行動(dòng)的開(kāi)始日期將會(huì)在今后數(shù)天內(nèi)對(duì)外公布。