Prime Minister Stephen Harper, third from left, and other cabinet members snack on seal meat offered on Tuesday by Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, in a photo sent to media by the Prime Minister's Office. (Jason Ransom/PMO)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper had fighting words on Tuesday for critics of Canada's seal hunt, accusing European countries and others of unfairly discriminating against the industry.

Speaking in Iqaluit on, Harper defended the seal hunt, which recently became the subject of a trade ban by the European Union.

Late last month, the EU banned the import of seal products from Canada and other sealing nations. The ban is expected to take effect in all 27 EU member countries in October.

EU officials have said the ban was the result of public pressure to stop the hunt.

Animal rights groups argue the hunt is inhumane, but Harper told reporters on Tuesday morning he disagrees.

"This industry, you know, has tight standards, the tightest in the world. The standards of this industry, quite frankly, are better than many other industries that deal with animal products," Harper said.

"There is no reason the seal industry should be singled out for discriminatory treatment by Europeans or any other nation."

Shortly after the EU ban was approved, Trade Minister Stockwell Day vowed to challenge it before the World Trade Organization, calling it an unfair trade restriction.

Canada's East Coast seal hunt is the largest of its kind in the world, with an average annual kill of about 300,000 harp seals. Canada exported about $2.5 million worth of seal products to EU countries in 2008.

Canada's Inuit also have a traditional sealing industry in Nunavut. Sealers in that territory harvest about 35,000 seals annually, up to 11,000 of which are sold on the open market.

Seals are also an essential source of food and clothing for Inuit in remote Nunavut communities.

The EU trade ban does provide a limited exemption for seal products derived from traditional Inuit hunts, but sealers say the exemption comes with a number of restrictions.

As well, they've argued that a trade ban would hurt the entire sealing industry regardless of whether exemptions exist for certain sectors.

Raw, cooked seal on lunch menu

Harper held a meeting Tuesday afternoon with his inner circle of cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Defence Minister Peter MacKay, to discuss the government's strategy for the fall parliamentary session.

The top priority for the cabinet's priority and planning committee is to move Canada's economy back on track, said Andrew MacDougall, Harper's press secretary.

Harper and the ministers also ate some seal for lunch, courtesy of Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, the Conservative MP for Nunavut.

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak applauded the prime minister's menu choice, and political statement.

"Eating seal meat and using seal skins is part of our life and part of our culture ... I know that he understands that it is our food and our livelihood," Aariak said.

Grise Fiord artist Looty Pijamini said he's happy Harper ate seal meat, but he is a little worried about the possible after-effects of the gesture. Pijamini said seal meat can upset the stomach because it is so rich.

" I don't want him to get sick," he said.