Comments: Periodically, 10,000s have died annually after being entangled in fishing gear. See Beck et al. (1994, Can. J. Zool. 72:174-182) for information on organochlorine residues in seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Hudson Strait. In the northwestern Atlantic, total removals (harvest plus individuals killed but not landed) increased from about 179,000-209,000 in 1994 to 417,000-533,000 in 1998 (Lavigne 1999).