The act protects the harp seal throughout its range, including the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans and the waters off New England.
A Canadian company pleaded guilty Monday, June 5, 2023, to violating U.S. law by illegally selling seal oil capsules to American customers. The capsules were still available on FeelGood Natural Health Store's website Tuesday, with a note that the item wasn't available for shipment to the United States.
Harp seals are listed as a special species of “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, though their population declined to low levels in the 1960s due to hunting. They now have a global population of about 7 million, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They have been hunted off of Canada for thousands of years.
The Justice Department said FeelGood sold the seal oil capsules via its own website and a third-party platform. The company’s website describes it as a worldwide shipper of supplements and natural remedies. Seal oil products were still on the company’s website on Tuesday and were marked with a notice that they cannot be shipped to the U.S.