Bad weather in the Gulf of St. Lawrence didn't keep sealers from hunting in heavy ice Tuesday, but it grounded anti-hunt observers who were set to keep tabs on the cull.

The hunt began Monday for those in Îles de la Madeleine and opened for Maritime sealers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Tuesday.

Phil Jenkins, a spokesman for the federal Fisheries Department, said 18 boats were in the area.

Another 50 hunters travelled in their snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles directly from Îles de la Madeleine onto the ice that had pushed up against the land.

Jenkins said about 10,000 seals out of a total quota of 15,000 animals for the area around the Quebec islands had been killed since the hunt opened early Monday to midday Tuesday.

Jenkins said it was possible the quota could be met by the end of Tuesday

The total quota for sealers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. is 1,700 seals. Some sealers expect prices for harp seal pelts to be low this year, at around $20 to $30 each.

High winds and blowing snow were preventing members of two animal welfare groups from flying out to the ice from Charlottetown in five helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft.

Rebecca Aldworth, a director for Humane Society International Canada, said the fact sealers were continuing to kill seals in bad weather proves the hunt is "inherently inhumane."

"I would imagine they're dealing with massive ocean swells out there, gale-force winds, low visibility, freezing rain, fog, and yet they're still out there killing seals," she said.

"The ability for them to deliver a humane death [blow] in those conditions is almost non-existent."

Most sealers taking part in the hunt traditionally use a hakapik — a heavy wooden club topped with a metal head — to kill the animals with a blow to the head.

Sixteen journalists and representatives of anti-sealing organizations have been issued observer permits. The hunt off the islands is the first in a series of hunts off the east coast that have a total allowable catch for harp, hooded and grey seals of 338,200 animals — 55,000 more than last year.

The quota increase announced Friday by federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea came despite continuing international opposition to the annual hunt and efforts to further limit already diminishing markets for pelts.

This year's hunt starts as the European Parliament prepares to debate a motion to ban the importation of seal pelts.

Close to half of the licensed Maritime sealers, 22, are from P.E.I., but it's not immediately clear how many of them have joined the hunt.

With files from the Canadian Press