sealing

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sealing

hunting

Also known as: seal hunting

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July 13, 2026

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Sealing refers to the hunting of seals for their valuable parts, including meat, skins, fur, blubber, and genitals. This practice has a long history, with commercial sealing of harp seals dating back over two centuries, particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador.12

Harp seals, known for their distinctive harp-shaped marking, are abundant in Arctic and North Atlantic waters, inhabiting areas near ice floes. Hooded seals, also hunted for their pelts, meat, and oils, are found in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans and are distinguished by a unique inflatable nasal appendage in males.23

Historically, sealing disputes arose, such as the Bering Sea Dispute between the United States and Great Britain/Canada over jurisdiction for seal hunting. While sealing has been a significant industry, public outcry over the hunting of young seals, particularly harp seal pups known as "whitecoats," led to stricter regulations and bans on certain practices and products in various regions.423

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Antarctica
Biological resources
Commercial fur sealing began during the second half of the 18th century in the Falkland Islands and rapidly spread to all subantarctic islands in the zeal to supply the wealthy markets of Europe and China. The industry made immense profits, but the toll on mammal populations was…
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Commercial fur sealing began during the second half of the 18th century in the Falkland Islands and rapidly spread to all subantarctic islands in the zeal to supply the wealthy markets of Europe and China. The industry made immense profits, but the toll on mammal populations was…
Read More

Australia
An authoritarian society
Sealing and whaling also proved profitable, although the richest seal fields (especially in Bass Strait) were soon thinned; and not until the 1820s did colonists have the wealth to engage seriously in whaling, although British and Americans early used Australian ports for this purpose. Maritime…
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Sealing and whaling also proved profitable, although the richest seal fields (especially in Bass Strait) were soon thinned; and not until the 1820s did colonists have the wealth to engage seriously in whaling, although British and Americans early used Australian ports for this purpose. Maritime…
Read More

harp seal
The sealing industry
Harp seals have been hunted commercially for over two centuries. The commercial sealing industry began with the harvest of adult harp seals in Newfoundland and Labrador during the middle of the 18th century. Recoverable seal parts include meat (for Asian pet food and…
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Harp seals have been hunted commercially for over two centuries. The commercial sealing industry began with the harvest of adult harp seals in Newfoundland and Labrador during the middle of the 18th century. Recoverable seal parts include meat (for Asian pet food and…
Read More

Pribilof Islands
…the herd may be conserved; sealing at sea (also called pelagic sealing) permits no selectivity, and, moreover, many of the animals killed are lost. In 1870 sealing rights were leased to the Alaska Commercial Company. During the 1880s vessels of several countries engaged in pelagic sealing, which depleted the islands’…
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…the herd may be conserved; sealing at sea (also called pelagic sealing) permits no selectivity, and, moreover, many of the animals killed are lost. In 1870 sealing rights were leased to the Alaska Commercial Company. During the 1880s vessels of several countries engaged in pelagic sealing, which depleted the islands’…
Read More

seal
Seal diversity
Seal hunting, or sealing, was so widespread and indiscriminate in the 19th century that many species might have become extinct if international regulations had not been enacted for their protection. The severe decline of sealing worldwide after World War II and the effects of international…
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Seal hunting, or sealing, was so widespread and indiscriminate in the 19th century that many species might have become extinct if international regulations had not been enacted for their protection. The severe decline of sealing worldwide after World War II and the effects of international…
Read More