CEC hero image, a  photo of Array

Submission

Seal Hunting

Submission ID: SEM-07-003
Party concerned: Canada
Date filed: June 26, 2007
Submission Status: Closed

Latest Update: September 6, 2007

The Secretariat determined that the revised submission did not meet the Article 14(1) criteria and terminated the process under guideline 6.3.

Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:

The Submitters assert that the Canadian government is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws with respect to the harp seal hunt that takes place in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and along the Newfoundland and Labrador coast in Canada every year in the spring.

In the submission, the Submitters assert that Canada, in particular Fisheries and Oceans Canada, is failing to effectively enforce Article 2(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and the preamble to the Oceans Act by failing to apply the precautionary principle when it sets the annual harp seal hunting quota and when it allowed the quota to be exceeded in four of the past five years. The Submitters also allege that most hunters do not strictly comply with the rules prescribing instruments and methods for killing seals (Articles 28 and 29 of the Marine Mammal Regulations adopted under the federal Fisheries Act). According to the Submitters, this shows that the authorities have failed to effectively enforce these provisions and the section of the Criminal Code outlawing cruelty to animals (446.1).

Names and citations of the environmental laws in question:

Article 2(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and the preamble to the Oceans Act.

Submitter(s):

Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental A.C. (CEMDA), Conservación de Mamíferos Marinos de México, A.C. (COMARINO), and Humane Society International (revised submission)

Submission Timeline

June 26, 2007

The Secretariat received a submission and began a preliminary analysis of it under the guidelines.

Acknowledgement - Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 04/07/2007

Submission - Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 25/06/2007

July 13, 2007

The Secretariat notified the submitter(s) that the submission did not meet all of the Article 14(1) criteria and the submitter(s) had 30 days to provide the Secretariat with a revised submission that conforms with Article 14(1).

Determination - Secretariat Determination under Article 14 (1) authored by Secretariat on 13/07/2007

August 23, 2007

The Secretariat received a revised submission and began to analyze it.

Acknowledgement - Communication to Submitter(s) authored by Secretariat on 28/08/2007

Submission - Submission authored by Submitter(s) on 23/08/2007

September 6, 2007

The Secretariat determined that the revised submission did not meet the Article 14(1) criteria and terminated the process under guideline 6.3.

Determination - Secretariat Determination under Article 14 (1) authored by Secretariat on 06/09/2007