Saint Paul Island (Alaska) in the context of "Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska"

Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in nine countries: Canada, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Russia, the United States (above the Arctic Circle in Alaska), Namibia, Estonia, Norway, Finland and Sweden. Most of the world's seal hunting takes place in Canada and Greenland.

The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) regulates the seal hunt in Canada. It sets quotas (total allowable catch – TAC), monitors the hunt, studies the seal population, works with the Canadian Sealers' Association to train sealers on new regulations, and promotes sealing through its website and spokespeople. The DFO set harvest quotas of over 90,000 seals in 2007; 275,000 in 2008; 280,000 in 2009; and 330,000 in 2010. The actual kills in recent years have been less than the quotas: 82,800 in 2007; 217,800 in 2008; 72,400 in 2009; and 67,000 in 2010. In 2007, Norway reported that 29,000 harp seals were killed, Russia reported that 5,479 seals were killed and Greenland reported that 90,000 seals were killed in their respective seal hunts.