By CHRIS MORRIS
April 23, 2006

(CP) - Canadian Fisheries officials are reviewing rules governing the annual East Coast seal hunt after one of the most turbulent seasons in decades.

Clashes between sealers and hunt protesters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence , Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador highlighted growing tensions between the people who want to stop the slaughter of young seals and those who rely on it as a much-needed source of income.

High-profile appeals by celebrities, including a widely covered visit to the Gulf by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and the re-emergence of actress Brigitte Bardot, signalled a massive new effort by animal rights groups to stop the seal hunt once and for all.

Out on the ice, the presence of protesters was beyond toleration for some sealers who resorted to flinging seal guts at observers and, in several cases, attempting to ram the small, inflatable vessels used by protesters and news reporters.

With the threat of boycotts growing and with more countries considering bans on seal products, officials with the Canadian Fisheries Department are reviewing their options to protect the hunt.

At the very least, they say there could be new restrictions placed on hunt observers.

"Sealers are very concerned that these people (the protesters) are there and that they can approach within such a close distance," says Fisheries spokesman Larry Yetman, referring to rules that allow observers to come as close as 10 metres to hunters.

"They feel it's disruptive to the hunt. . . . We'll have to develop plans around the protest situation and see where we go with it next year."

One thing is clear: neither the Canadian government nor sealers are about to back down, despite the renewed campaign by animal rights activists.

Mark Small, chairman of Newfoundland 's Northeast Sealers Co-operative and a veteran sealer, says hunters and processors are enjoying record prices for seal skins this year - up to $105 per pelt.

Small says that rate of return means a sealer who brings in 1,000 skins - the average for most hunters - will end up with over $100,000 in his pocket.

Small says that helps cover the soaring expenses facing Atlantic fishermen today, from skyrocketing insurance premiums on boats to the high cost of fuel.

As well, growing problems in other fisheries - including quota reductions in crab and vanishing stocks in the groundfishery - make the seal hunt increasingly important.

"It is the brightest spot that we got in the fishing industry," Small says.

"It's not a sport fishery. This is based on economics and it has become very important in light of what has happened to the groundfishery worldwide."

Rebecca Aldworth, spokeswoman for the Humane Society of the United States - a large animal protection organization opposed to the seal hunt - says hunt protesters aren't about to back down either.

Armed with seemingly limitless amounts of cash, animal protection groups are switching their focus from the ice to two new fronts: international markets and the courts.

"We're trying to shut down the markets," Aldworth says, noting success with seal product bans in several European countries.

"As long as there is a market for this product, sealers have a financial incentive to kill seal pups."

Aldworth says animal rights activists are turning their attention to emerging seal markets in Russia and China .

She says they will take their videos of blood-soaked ice and helpless young seals to Russia and China to spread the message that the largest marine mammal slaughter in the world is a cruel affront to nature.

Aldworth says hunt opponents also will wage legal battles against efforts by the Canadian government to shut down their work documenting the hunt.

Aldworth is one of seven people who were arrested on the ice and are now under investigation for violating terms of observer permits during the Gulf hunt last month.

No charges have been laid yet, but Roger Simon of the federal Fisheries Department says evidence is being reviewed and a decision will be made in the coming weeks.

Aldworth says the Humane Society is preparing to go to Federal Court in Ottawa to seek a judicial review of the decision to suspend her observer permit and those of the others arrested in the Gulf.

"We take our presence at the hunt very seriously," says Aldworth, a native of Newfoundland .

"If the hunt goes ahead next year, we will be there documenting it and the federal government will have to permit observers from the Humane Society of the United States . We will fight them in court and we will win our right to legally document this hunt."

Aldworth says the arrests, the hostile encounters with sealers and angry protests by people living in coastal towns proved to protesters they are being taken seriously as a threat to the hunt.

"For us, it was proof that our campaign is succeeding," she says.

This year's hunt is not quite finished.

A small boat hunt is still underway off Newfoundland and Labrador , where bad weather has kept sealers from catching their quota.

In total, it appears this year's quota of 325,000 seals will not be reached.