The European Union has voted to ban the importation of most seal products. A brief look at the industry in Canada:

Who: The decision affects more than 6,000 sealers in small coastal communities along the Atlantic coast, as well as Inuit and other northern aboriginal populations.

Dependence: The industry can constitute up to 35 per cent of a fisherman's annual income, or about $25,000. Pelt prices have plunged to $14 from a high of over $100 several years ago.

Total value: Sealing was worth more than $55 million to the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2006, and another $1 million to aboriginal populations in Nunavut; the landed value in Newfoundland was just $12 million in 2007, however, and it is estimated at about $1 million this year.

Products: Fur; meat; some body parts are considered aphrodisiacs in parts of Asia; seal oil is a source of Omega 3.

Customers: The EU made up 32 per cent of the seal export market; other major buyers include Russia and China.

Populations: The harp seal population in Canada is estimated at 5.5 million -- triple what it was in the early 1970s; hooded seals number about 600,000; grey seals 300,000.

Eating habits: Federal scientists estimate harp seals eat about six million tonnes of fish a year along the East Coast, three million tonnes of it in areas where commercial seafood landings total 900,000 tonnes.

Hunting restrictions: The hunt is conducted in accordance with recommendations made by the Independent Veterinarians Working Group in 2005 and endorsed by the European Food Safety Authority; Canada banned the taking of white-coat seal pups in 1987.

Management: Sealing is controlled by quotas set by the federal government, based on scientific advice; this year, about 70,000 harp seals were taken out of Newfoundland and Labrador's commercial, non-aboriginal quota of 273,000 animals -- that harvest is down from almost 218,000 in 2008 and 225,000 in 2007.

Quote: "We have expected the EU to act on science instead of misinformation. In caving to pressure from NGOs for a seal-product ban, the European Union has taken short-sighted and irresponsible actions that will affect many Canadian livelihoods." -- Fisheries Minister Gail Shea.

(Source: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Sealers Association)