Unlike whales, which were hunted to the verge of extinction, seals have at times diminished in number but their survival as a species has never been threatened.

umbers declined in the nineteenth century, when intensive harvesting put pressure on the harp seal population. There was another decrease in the mid-twentieth century, when the hunt for mature animals cut breeding stocks. Government-imposed quotas after 1972 reversed this situation.

The hunt, however, is also a slaughter, and unlike an abattoir, ice floes are accessible to the public. Some early observers were repelled by the killing. Despite the regulations currently in place, there is now a widespread impression that the hunt is inhumane.

Today, sealers and the Canadian government argue that a controlled harvest is economically justified and environmentally sustainable. Animal welfare advocates argue that the seal population is threatened and work to undercut markets for seal products.