Canadian authorities are investigating whether a helicopter rented by activists interfered with the controversial annual seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by sending seals scurrying away from hunters, officials said Friday. «The allegation is that the helicopter pilot, in directing his aircraft, was scaring seals off ice floes and into the water in an attempt to disrupt the seal fishery,» said Phil Jenkins, spokesman for Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Jenkins said he could be more specific about what the pilot _ contracted by the Humane Society of the United States _ is accused of doing to disturb the hunt. The pilot won't be issued an observer license for at least the day, pending the outcome of the department's investigation. Jenkins declined to name the pilot. Rebecca Aldworth of the Humane Society of the United States said the pilot was abiding by the federal government's observer regulations and did not disrupt sealers, according to AP «I think their concern is that when the noise of a helicopter is in the area, they argue that a seal might go over the edge, as opposed to staying there where they can kill them,» Aldworth said. The pilot complied with a request from officials to pull back further from a sealing vessel than the 150-meter (492.13 feet) observer regulation allows, Aldworth said. «This is something that happens each and every year at the commercial seal hunt,» she said. «Sealers constantly complain that helicopters are flying in the area, they don't like being observed, they don't like being filmed, and it's a strategy that they've been using over the past few years to try and disrupt our ability to film the commercial seal hunt.» The hunt in the northern Gulf opened Wednesday and presents the only real opportunity this year for protesters to get the images they need for their campaign to stop the annual slaughter on the ice. Earlier this week, the federal government banned observers during the opening days of the hunt in the southern Gulf, where there were poor ice conditions and few seals. Observing the hunt in the northern Gulf is difficult for animal rights groups because they are unpopular among people living in small communities on the coast of Quebec and Newfoundland. The traditional spring hunt that is important to the livelihood of Canadian seal hunters and aboriginal peoples. Fishermen sell seal pelts mostly for the fashion industry in Norway, Russia and China, as well as blubber for oil, earning about US$78 (euro58) per seal. Last year, the humane society had difficulty getting helicopters refueled and, at one point, some of their members were trapped in a hotel for several hours by angry residents. The federal government has announced a total quota of 270,000 seals to be taken this year, down from last year's quota of 335,000. The change was made mainly because of poor ice conditions. The United States has banned Canadian seal products since 1972 and the European Union banned the white pelts of baby seals in 1983. Registered hunters are not allowed to kill the seal pups before they molt their downy white fur, typically when they're 10 days to three weeks old. -- SPA
