Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams says he would like to see hakapiks banned from the annual seal hunt, in part because of the images they provide to hunt opponents.

Williams says the tools are inhumane if not used properly, but more important have given ammunition to organizations trying to ban the hunt altogether.

Hakapiks should no longer be allowed in the seal hunt, says Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams.
(CBC)

"Even though it's proven to be a very effective method of killing seals, it's just the optic. It's the visual image," Williams said Wednesday.

"So, one thing certainly that I'm looking at as premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is to try and make sure that we take that out completely, because well over 90 per cent of the kill of the seal is done by bullet."

Williams does not have the authority to issue such a ban, as sealing is regulated by the federal government. The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has long argued that hakapiks are humane.

Hakapiks — clubs equipped with hooks at one end — are most commonly used in the hunt off the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which accounts for a small part of the annual hunt but receives international attention because the floes are easily accessible.

For the larger hunt off the northeast coast of Newfoundland, most sealers use rifles. The current hunting season there is scheduled after ice has broken up, and most seals are killed from open boats.

Jack Troake, a veteran sealer based in the northeast Newfoundland fishing community of Twillingate, said a ban on hakapiks is worth pursuing.

"It is causing a very serious problem for us," Troake said.

"This is the hang-up, and I certainly believe that if they don't change that, that we're going to lose this hunt."

Clubs were more commonly used at the Front — the traditional name for the hunting area off Newfoundland — before killing white coats, or baby harp seals, was banned in the 1980s.

However, Olivier Bonnet, Canadian director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said such a ban would not make protesters happy.

"Ninety per cent of the seals are killed with rifles, and we know that it's just as cruel — if not more cruel — than hitting them with clubs and old hakapiks," Bonnet said.

Williams's comments may not sit well with hunters from the Magdalen Islands. Eldridge Woodford, president of the Canadian Sealers Association, said he will talk to his board members before he comments on the issue.