Russia is moving to end its seal hunt, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin calling it a "bloody industry."
The decision comes as the European Union edges toward banning the trans-shipment of seal products, a move that could stop the Atlantic seal hunt for good.
In recent weeks, Russia has stopped the killing of whitecoats, the youngest seals, and has now pledged to protect older seals as well, though it did not give a timeline.
"It is clear that [our hunt]should have been banned a long time ago," Mr. Putin said, according to a statement distributed yesterday by the embassy in Ottawa.
Russia's Natural Resources Minister, Yury Trutnyev, called seal hunting "one of the most inhumane types of hunting in the world, which is banned in the vast majority of developed states."
The statement did not spell out whether Russia, which is a market for Canadian seal pelts, would continue to allow pelts to be imported.
Anti-sealing advocates dispute the size of the Russian market but a Newfoundland processor said in 2007 that the country was the No. 1 customer for his products, with China not far behind.
A request for comment from the Russian embassy was not returned by the end of day.
"What this does show is the global momentum toward ending seal hunting," said Rebecca Aldworth, with Humane Society International-Canada.
"Citizens all over Russia have been calling for an end to the seal hunt for many, many years. I wish the Government of Canada would be as responsive to its citizens. The overwhelming majority have been calling for an end."
The Russians say their hunt in the White Sea had an annual quota of about 35,000 seals.
That represented approximately one-third of the current population, which is down more than 95 per cent since it was first counted in 1928.
By contrast, the Canadian seal population is increasing. In recent years, the number of seals off Atlantic Canada has been estimated at more than five million, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, with about five per cent of the population allowed to be killed annually.
Canada's hunt has long been the focus of animal-rights activists and, earlier this month, an EU committee approved a proposal that would prohibit member countries from importing seal products.
This must still be approved by the European Parliament, where a vote is expected next month, and then by individual EU nations.
"It's very frustrating and we've been let down ridiculous by our government," Jack Troake, who has been sealing since 1951, said from his home in northern Newfoundland.
"If you take a vote in the little outport communities, 95 per cent would say we're not Canadian."
Where the seals are
Russia, a major importer of Canadian seal pelts, has ended the seal hunt in its own territory, calling it a 'bloody industry.'
NORTHWEST ATLANTIC (About 5 million)
Magdalen Islands
Newfoundland
Greenland Sea (About 300,000)
White Sea (About 200,000)
TONIA COWAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL // SOURCE: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
Oliver Moore