Marine Mammal Regulations

28 (1) No person shall fish for seals, for personal or commercial use, in any of Sealing Areas 4 to 33 except with

• (a) a round club made of hardwood that measures not less than 60 cm and not more than 1 m in length and that, for at least half of its length, beginning at one end, measures not less than 5 cm and not more than 7.6 cm in diameter;

• (b) an instrument known as a hakapik, consisting of a metal ferrule that weighs at least 340 g with a slightly bent spike not more than 14 cm in length on one side of the ferrule and a blunt projection not more than 1.3 cm in length on the opposite side of the ferrule and that is attached to a wooden handle that measures not less than 105 cm and not more than 153 cm in length and not less than 3 cm and not more than 5.1 cm in diameter;

• (c) a rifle and bullets that are not full metal-jacketed that produce a muzzle velocity of not less than 1,800 feet per second and a muzzle energy of not less than 1,100 foot pounds; or

• (d) a shotgun of not less than 20 gauge and rifled slugs.

(1.1) No person shall use a club or hakapik to strike a seal older than one year unless the seal has been shot with a firearm.

(2) Every person who strikes a seal with a club or hakapik shall strike the seal on the top of the cranium until it has been crushed and shall immediately palpate the cranium to confirm that it has been crushed.

(3) If a firearm is used to fish for a seal, the person who shoots the seal or retrieves it shall palpate the cranium as soon as possible after it is shot to confirm that the cranium has been crushed.

(4) Every person who palpates the cranium of a seal and determines that the cranium is not crushed shall immediately strike the seal with a club or hakapik on the top of its cranium until the cranium has been crushed.