Table Mountains

This is taken from the VOCM News site.

Seal Hunt UnderwayMarch 25, 2006
Canada's East Coast seal hunt is officially under way on unusually thin ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.A mild winter and warmer-than-normal water temperatures will make it more difficult this year for hunters to find and kill the 91,000 seals they are allowed to take in the Gulf hunt.There is no ice in the southern part of the Gulf, around Prince Edward Island, so hunters and protesters alike are heading north into the Cabot Strait and the Strait of Belle Isle off Newfoundland and Labrador.Tensions are higher than usual this year thanks to an aggressive, anti-hunt campaign launched by animal rights groups such as the Humane Society of the United States.The society has enlisted the support of such high-profile celebrities as Paul McCartney to appeal for an end to the annual slaughter.Fed up sealers on the Iles de la Madeleine are trying to get their own boycott going against the protesters. They're urging suppliers to stop providing protesters with boats, fuel and helicopters.
Fisheries Minister Tom Rideout says some thought is being given as to the best way of getting out the truth.
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn says an animal rights campaign targeting the seal hunt, that claims to have cut into Canadian seafood exports, is clearly bogus. Hearn says during a recent trip to the Boston Seafood show his department did some checking among companies that have reportedly joined the boycott. Hearn says they discovered the true picture.
Cheryl Fink of the International Fund for Animal Welfare says there are poor ice conditions in the Gulf this year and there aren't a lot of seals around. Fink says they are concerned about the changing climate and its impact on the breeding habitat of seals. She says the seal hunt is cruel and they want it shut down completely.
Fink says each year they continue to document and report on violations of the marine mammal regulations and instances of unacceptable cruelty to animals. She says there is more enforcement in the Gulf this year, but time will tell what comes of that.