The premiers of Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador called on the federal government Tuesday to ban the use of long, hooked clubs that they say threatens the seal industry.

The hakapik is used by some sealers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
(CBC)

The hakapik has become such a visual liability to the seal hunt that it could contribute to its demise, Newfoundland and Labrador's Danny Williams and Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik told reporters in St. John's.

"The matter is of some urgency," said Williams.

He and Okalik said the campaign to ban the hakapik is an attempt to sway the European Union from banning seal products in an upcoming vote in June.

"There are some images that stick with the general public, and the hakapik is one image that is used continually, and is used to lobby against our hunt, throughout Canada," said Okalik, who was wearing a sealskin vest.

"Even though we don't use the hakapik, we are impacted by it."

The hakapik is a long gaff fitted with sharp hooks. Sealers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, primarily near the Îles de la Madeleine, use hakapiks to kill seals, as well as drag their carcasses.

Most of the seals killed each year in Canada are taken off the coast of Newfoundland, where hunters use rifles. In Nunavut, rifles and harpoons are preferred.

Williams said he and Okalik will also raise the issue with Quebec Premier Jean Charest.

Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik, left, and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams want Ottawa to ban the use of hakapiks across Canada.
(CBC)

Okalik said some of the European parliamentarians he has spoken with have told him that if Canada gets rid of the hakapik, they will not support a ban on Canadian seal products.

"It's a real image problem for our industry that we have to change, so that our industry can continue to survive and hopefully thrive in the future," Okalik said.

Williams said he does not share the view that the hakapik is cruel or inhumane.

"It's [been] proven to be humane and is an accepted method," he said. "However, there's a perception in the public that it appears to be a particularly brutal form of killing."

Williams raised his opposition to the hakapik in 2006, citing the "visual image" that the weapon gives opponents of the hunt.

Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said at that time that he was open to considering a ban, but he could not see clear alternatives.