OTTAWA (CP) - Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn says officials are working on new restrictions to keep protesters [sic -- observers, including news reporters] farther from the East Coast seal hunt.

During an appearance before the Commons fisheries committee today, Hearn said he's going to do everthing legally possible to stop demonstrators from interfering with the annual event. He says it's a matter of safety for both the protesters and the hunters, who use guns to shoot their prey on ice floes.

Last spring, charges were laid against seven people who were involved in protesting and observing Canada's commercial seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Hearn would not say exactly what restrictions will be tightened.