Hakapik

Infobox tool
name = Hakapik

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caption =Close-up on the business end of a Norwegian Hakapik displayed in a Tromsø, Norway gun shop
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classification = Hunting weapon
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related = A hakapik is a club, of Norwegian design, used for killing seals. The hakapik is a multipurpose hunting tool—a heavy wooden club, with a hammer head (used to crush a seal's skull), and a hook (used to drag away the carcass) on the end. In Norway, and possibly elsewhereFact|date=June 2007, the hakapik is often used to kill seals, while a rifle is used to kill most individuals. [cite book |last=Roddis |first=Miles |authorlink= |coauthors=Anthony Ham |title=Norway |year=2005 |publisher=Lonely Planet |location= |isbn=1740595203 ] The Hakapik is also used to ensure that shot seals are actually dead.

Regulation Canadian hakapiks consist of a metal ferrule that weighs at least 340 g (12 oz) with a slightly bent spike not more than 14 cm (5.5 in) in length on one side of the ferrule and a blunt projection not more than 1.3 cm (0.5 in) in length on the opposite side of the ferrule and that is attached to a wooden handle that measures not less than 105 cm (3.4 ft) and not more than 153 cm (5 ft) in length and not less than 3 cm and not more than 5.1 cm (2 in) in diameter.

Although it is often claimed that the hakapik is an inhumane hunting tool, it is favored by sealers because it allows them to kill the seal without damaging the pelt. Also, with a rifle the sealer runs the risk of hurting, but not killing the seal, causing them to flee, wounded, back into the ocean to die slowly. Further, studies by American veterinary scientists on the use of the Hakapik on the seal hunt carried out on Pribilof Islands of Alaska suggested that it is an efficient tool designed to kill the animal quickly and humanely when used correctly. [http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal-phoque/myth_e.htm Canadian Seal Hunt - Myths and Realities] ; "Fisheries and Oceans Canada"; retrieved from www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca February 29, 2008.] A report by members of the Canadian Medical Veterinary Association in September 2002 corroborated this claim.cite journal |last=Daoust |first=Pierre-Yves |coauthors=Alice Crook, Trent K. Bollinger, Keith G. Campbell, James Wong |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?%0btool=pmcentrez&artid=339547 |year=2002 |month=September |title=Animal welfare and the harp seal hunt in Atlantic Canada|journal=The Canadian Veterinary Journal|volume=43|issue=9|pages=687–694|accessdate=2006-04-06 |pmid=12240525 ]

See also

* Seal hunting

References and notes