Sealers in Newfoundland and Labrador say they aren't happy with this year's hunt quota set by the federal government.

On Monday, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced an increase for the seasonal harvest, stating sealers would be allowed to take 275,000 animals, up from 270,000 in 2007. The department estimates the harp seal population to be about 5.5 million.

Eldred Woodford, president of the Canadian Sealers Association, said that with those high numbers the herd can sustain a larger hunt, and his association asked the federal government for a kill of 300,000.

"It's is quite a bit different than what we asked for, but not as low as what some of the DFO science branch was looking," Woodford said of the quota. "I think there's probably quite a few members that are probably going to be upset with it."

Larry Tremblett, a fisherman in Bonavista on Newfoundland's north coast, is one of those upset with the quota numbers. He said he thinks the government is trying to appease environmental and animal rights groups by not increasing the quota to a higher number.

"Pressure from Greenpeace and groups like," Tremblett said. "It seems like that's the way they're going with it, they'll bow to them all the time."

More humane hunt

For the first time sealers will also have to follow a three-step process in killing seals that includes a blow to the head, checking that the skull is crushed, and then bleeding the animal by severing arteries.

The new rules are intended to make the hunt more humane, and were recommended by the Independent Veterinarians' Working Group, which was formed in 2005 to review the Canadian seal hunt.

The announcement comes as the European Parliament contemplates a ban on all seal products.