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 TORONTO (AP) - Canada announced Thursday that hunters can kill 270,000 harp seals this spring, despite environmentalists' protests that thousands of pups too young to swim have fallen through ice thinned by global warming, jeopardizing the stability of the population.
Animal-rights groups worldwide condemned the hunt as inhumane.
The traditional spring hunt is key to the livelihood of Canadian seal hunters and aboriginal peoples. To protect the seal population in Canada — which now stands at about 5.5 million — fisheries officials announced a sharp reduction in the number that can be killed, down from last year's quota of 335,000 animals.
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