This letter is in response to the letter written by "Janice" posted in the opinions section of the March issue of the Downhome magazine where she accuses Newfoundlanders and Labradorians involved in the sealing industry of being cruel and heartless for killing baby seals. The seal fishery is a completely legal hunt that is monitored by the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and is covered under Marine Mammals Regulations. These regulations govern the use of hakapiks, or clubs, and firearms, as well as the accepted killing and skinning methods. Most of the seals taken as part of this hunt are killed using a rifle, however, some are still killed using the traditional hakapik. Contrary to popular belief, the hakapik is a highly efficient way of quickly, often painlessly, killing seals. She states that we kill baby seals. Well it is, and has been, illegal to kill newborn harp seals (whitecoats) and hooded seals (bluebacks) since 1987. Seals taken in the hunt are 12 to 14 days old, referred to as ragged jackets, and are abandoned by their mothers by this time. She calls for the stopping of the hunt FAST and calls us greedy. Well this hunt provided much needed work and $6 million to the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2007 alone. The seal hunt in this province is also used as a perfectly acceptable method of controlling the seal populations in our waters. It is considered a healthy culling method that will undoubtably increase the failing fish stocks that have been decimated by over exploitation and excessive predation by an overabundance of predators.   Submitted By: Todd Hollett