article_snippet: the government has come under fire for allowing the slaughter of nearly 470,000 seals as part of the biggest marine animal hunt on the planet.
article_snippet: Animal rights activists are also criticising the high quotas on the base that global warming is threatening all seal species in Canada as the ice, where the seals breed, is melting .
article_snippet: The United States, the EU, Taiwan, Switzerland, Mexico and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia have all stopped The United States, the EU, Taiwan, Switzerland, Mexico and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia trade in some or all products of commercial seal hunts.
article_snippet: The government have already set, but the actual hunters The government cannot be bothered to go out because The government cannot sell the pelts.
article_snippet: If The recent EU ban on import of seal products had happened a decade ago perhaps the hunt would've grinded to a halt by now.
article_snippet: There are also further threats to the Canadian seals, as climate change is causing their ice habitat to deteriorate at an alarming rate.
article_snippet: In recent years, the Canadian government has estimated a near 100 per cent mortality for pups born in key whelping areas when the sea ice melted too soon in the season, and pups born in key whelping areas when the sea ice melted too soon in the season drowned.
article_snippet: And as global warming is thinning the ice, which is the seal’s breeding area, the species is already under threat,' Mr Ottaway adds. '
article_snippet: The Government of Canada acknowledges that climate change is causing mass mortalities for these ice-dependent seals, yet is still endorsing the largest mass slaughter of marine mammals on the planet. '
article_snippet: Instead of setting irresponsible and unsustainable seal quotas, The Government of Canada should take immediate steps to end the largest mass slaughter of marine mammals on the planet through a federal sealing industry buyout.'
highlights_snippet: Hunt is the largest marine mammal cull on the planet .
  