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SealingSeal hunting or sealing refers to the practice, history and industries associated with both "personal" and "commercial" hunting of seals. Historically, seal coats have been prized for both their beauty and their warmth. Seal oil was often used as lamp fuel, lubricating and cooking oil, for processing such materials as leather and jute, and as a constituent of soap. The meat was an important source of protein, vitamin A and iron for the Eskimo . Reports from modern-day seal-meat connoisseurs vary: some reports praise its delicate flavour , others claim it is unfit for human consumption . Archeological evidence indicates that the Native Americans and Native Canadians have been hunting seals for at least 4,000 years. There is also evidence that seals were hunted in northwest Europe and the Baltic Sea more than 10,000 years ago. The first commercial hunting of seals is said to have occurred in 1515, when a cargo of fur seal skins from Uruguay was sent to Spain for sale in the markets of Seville. Sealing began to become more prevalent in the late 1700s when seal herds in the southern hemisphere began to be exploited by whalers. In 1778, English sealers brought back from the Isle of Georgia and Magellan Strait as many as 40,000 seal skins and 2,800 tons of elephant seal oil. In 1791, 102 vessels, manned by 3000 sealers, were hunting seals south of the equator. Most of the pelts taken during these expeditions would be sold in China. The peak of the sealing industry occurred in 1821, when Lloyd's Register had 164 sealing vessels on their records. However, by 1830, most seal stocks had been seriously depleted, and Lloyd's records only showed one full-time sealing vessel on its books. Seals have been hunted in Atlantic Canada since the early 16th century. The Newfoundland seal hunt became an annually recorded event starting in 1723. By the late 1800s, sealing had become the second most important industry in Newfoundland, second only to cod fishing. Since then, a number of nations have outlawed the hunting of seals and other marine mammals. Today, commercial sealing is conducted by only five nations: Greenland, Namibia, Norway, Russia, and Canada. The United States, which had formerly been heavily involved in the sealing industry, now maintains a complete ban on the commercial hunting of marine mammals, however, indigenous peoples are allowed to hunt a small number of seals each year . Hunting is now controlled by quota regulations based on international recommendations by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). In Canada, the season for the commercial hunt of harp is from November 15 to May 15. The majority of sealing, however, occurs in late March in The Gulf of St. Lawrence, and during the first or second week of April off Newfoundland, in an area known as "The Front". This peak spring period is generally what is referred to as the "Canadian Seal Hunt" . In 2006, the St. Lawrence seal hunt officially started on March 25. This date was initially uncertain, due to thin ice conditions caused by the year's milder temperatures. Check out the following recipes that are tagged "Sealing":
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