The heads and tails of seal hunting

A renewable resource

Pro:The seal population is growing. There are 9.5 million harp seals - four to five times as many as in the 1970s. The number of seals in Greenland has doubled in the past three decades.

Con:The hunting of seal pups during 1950s and 1960s reduced the global seal population by two-thirds. Climate change also threatens the animals.

Fish populations

Pro:The number of cod, which seals eat, is rapidly decreasing as seal numbers increase.

Con: Only 3 percent of a harp seal's diet is cod. No evidence links seals to diminishing numbers of cod. Human over-fishing appears to be the culprit instead.

Tradition and economics

Pro:More than 6,000 Canadians, mostly Inuit, earn livings from seal products. The Inuit have hunted seals for as long as anyone knows.

Con:Seal hunting is a commercial industry. The profits provide 5 percent of the 6,000 active hunters' income. Seal hunts generate 1 percent of the revenue of Newfoundland, the province where most hunts take place.

Potential cruelty

Pro:The killing is done quickly, and the pain is minimal.

Con:The commercial slaughter is inherently inhumane. Hunters are paid per seal they kill, so they slaughter as many as possible, as quickly as possible. Humane Society International Canada (HSI Canada) reports hunters can't be sure the animals are dead before their skins are removed in 66 percent of cases.

Killing pups

Pro:The Canadian government bans killing seal pups that are younger than 12 days old.

Con:HSI Canada reports 97 percent of slaughtered seals are younger than three months, and most are younger than one month. Younger pups are preferred for their better quality fur.