Sealers have permission to harvest 2,200 seals on Hay Island. (Department of Fisheries and Oceans)

Sealers in the Maritimes have been granted permission to hunt in a provincially protected area off Cape Breton.

The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans recently approved a request from sealers to harvest 2,200 grey seals on Hay Island, near Louisbourg.

The Nova Scotia Department of Environment agreed to give them access to the island, part of a provincially protected wilderness area.

A similar hunt was approved last year, but it was described as a one-time event.

Gus van Helvoort, a senior official with DFO in the Maritimes, said the sealers put forward an acceptable case to hunt for commercial purposes.

"The island itself is … a large rock outcrop on the ocean. There is not a lot of vegetation there. And the harvesters made their argument," he said.

There are about 300,000 grey seals in the area, he noted.

Van Helvoort said sealers from Prince Edward Island are joining this year's hunt, which could get underway this week.