Canadian police arrest seal 'hunt' protesters

OTTAWA - A group of animal rights activists observing Canada's annual seal slaughter have been arrested for getting too close to hunters killing the animals off the eastern coast, officials said.

The six activists belong to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which says the hunt is cruel and should be scrapped. This year, some 325,000 young seals will be shot and clubbed to death on ice floes, mainly for their pelts.

In addition to six activists, a freelance cameraman working for Reuters Television was detained. They were aboard a small craft near the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and they broke the law by coming within 10 metres of the seal killers, officials said. They were later all released. Under Canadian law it is illegal to approach a seal, except to kill it.

"We'll investigate, get statements and then decide whether to charge them," said Roger Simon of the federal fisheries and oceans ministry, which is overseeing the killing, which started on Saturday.

Unseasonably warm weather means the ice is much more broken up than usual, forcing the seal killers to shoot seals one by one rather than clubbing them en masse on the floes.

Earlier in the day, the activists said a sealing boat had deliberately rammed one of their small craft, damaging the propeller.

Rebecca Aldworth of the HSUS said by satellite phone that angry seal killers had also thrown seal flippers and carcasses at the activists. She said she would ask Canadian police to charge those responsible.

The first part of the slaughter, which takes place near the Magdalen Islands, usually takes about 10 to 12 days to complete. This year's quota is just over 90,000 seals.

"So far the hunters have taken 3000 to 4000 seals. That's not ridiculously slow, but it's not fast either. It's the lower edge of the norm," Simon said.

Celebrities such as former French film star Brigitte Bardot and ex-Beatle Paul McCartney last week pleaded with Ottawa to end the killing.

Canadian officials deny the "hunt" is inhumane and say it provides a boost to the local economy while keeping the harp seal population under control.

The second and larger stage of the slaughter, off the coast of Newfoundland, starts on April 4.

- REUTERS