Southern gulf seal hunt wrapping up

The seal hunt in Îles de la Madeleine is over for another year, while the hunt in the rest of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence is expected to begin and then end fairly quickly on Friday.

By 10 a.m. Wednesday, sealers off Îles de la Madeleine had caught their quota of 17,000 animals.

Sealers from the Maritimes were supposed to start their hunt on Tuesday, but have been delayed by weather. With a quota of fewer than 1,500 seals, it is expected that hunt will last just one day.

No sealers from P.E.I. will take part in the hunt this year. Only one had planned to go, but Kenneth MacLeod said the $20 to $30 offered for a pelt this year is too low to bother.

Observers, including the Humane Society of the United States and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said they'll soon be packing up their cameras.

The next scheduled seal hunt is off the west coast of Newfoundland in a few weeks.