In the grey September light of 2023, senators from the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans walked the silent docks of Port de Grave harbour in Newfoundland and Labrador. Idle fishing boats lined the wharves where sealers once brought in thousands of pelts. The fact-finding visit brought home the scale of the collapse.

After more than a year of testimony from fishers, Inuit elders, scientists, and officials, the committee’s report lays bare the reality. The Northwest Atlantic harp seal population stands at 7.6 million. Yet commercial harvests have fallen dramatically. Between 2018 and 2022, only 7 percent of the harp seal quota was landed.

Witnesses told senators that seals consume an estimated 22 times more fish than Canada’s entire commercial harvest. Significant research gaps persist on how these populations affect fish stock recovery.

The report issues nine urgent recommendations. Among them: develop a sustainable management strategy within six months, expand research capacity with Indigenous knowledge, counter misinformation through tax measures and education campaigns, and promote seal products in domestic and international markets.

Coastal communities from Newfoundland to Nunavut now await Ottawa’s response.