In April 2000, the National Marine Mammal Review Committee met in Ottawa to review the most recent information on the status of the northwest Atlantic harp seal population. Attending the meeting were scientists from four international research institutes, a non-governmental environmental group, two individuals from the seal harvesting sector, as well as a number of DFO scientists from across the country. In recent years, Canada’s strategy has been to set its total allowable catch (TAC) based on an estimate of replacement yield. The Committee agreed that the harp seal population has been stable at million since 1996, which is the highest.
