Every year the killing of harp and hooded seals off Newfoundland and in the St Lawrence Gulf raises a public outcry, especially over the clubbing of the whitecoat pups. In 1979 IUCN scientists suggested to the Canadian Government that the quotas were too high and could be imperilling the stocks. Little was known about the trade in seal products that resulted from the hunts, and in 1978 FPS commissioned Jon Barzdo to make a study of this aspect. This article is a summary of his report, a 30,000-word document with detailed figures, obtainable from the FPS office for £3, including p&p.