Canada's annual seal cull has begun as hunters ignore protests from animal rights activists.
The Canadian government has set the number of harp seal pups that will be clubbed and shot at 275,000.
There were confrontations between protesters and sealers in the Gulf of St Lawrence region of Quebec, where the cull begins before moving to Newfoundland.
Celebrities like Sir Paul McCartney have joined animal rights groups in condemning the cull as barbaric.
And the European Union is reportedly considering trade sanctions against Canada in a bid to pressure the authorities into banning the hunt.
But local fishing communities earn millions from selling seal meat and pelt and Canada's prime minister Stephen Harper has said the country is the victim of an "international propaganda campaign".
Most seals are killed humanely and are no longer beaten to death with sharpened clubs in the traditional way, supporters say.
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