Canada says the seal population has exploded
The government says the hunt is now more humane and that more than 300,000 seals can be killed this year.
The seal population is reaching record levels as commercial fish stocks are vanishing, the authorities say.
Animal rights campaigners, who say the hunt is cruel, have called for a boycott of Canadian seafood before the hunt which is due to start on 29 March.
The two-month hunt takes place on ice floes off the Atlantic coast where the seals give birth.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in a statement that Canada's seal population was healthy and abundant.
"The harp seal herd - the most important seal herd for this industry - is estimated at around five million animals, nearly the highest level ever recorded, and almost triple what it was in the 1970s."
Large-scale hunting will be allowed to continue until the number falls to under four million.
One official told the AFP news agency: "We have to do our job responsibly. We are looking at the middle ground, taking into account conservation and the economic needs of the region."
Uncomfortable images
But anti-hunt activists, who say many animals are skinned alive and die in agony, say they will press ahead with the boycott.
"I think that [the Canadian government] are feeling the heat... they can see the really serious implication of going ahead with the hunt this year," said Pat Ragan, of the Humane Society of the United States.
"We're going to be encouraging consumers to enter into dialogue with their grocery stores and their restaurants and say 'Please don't serve Canadian seafood' or 'I won't buy Canadian seafood until this hunt is over'," she told Reuters news agency.
The seal hunt in Newfoundland and Labrador went into decline some 25 years ago, after images of hunters clubbing infant seals horrified TV viewers across the world.
'''March 23, 2005''' 
A seal, photo by Jason L. Buberal
Ottawa says it will allow the harvest of 320,000 young seals this year, prompting a backlash from international environmental activists who call for a boycott of the Canadian fisheries products.

The seal hunt is an annual event on the ice floes off the east coast of Canada where the seal nurseries give birth. This year's hunt begins March 29, and lasts for two months.

The government reports the harp seal population is large and healthy. "The harp seal herd - the most important seal herd for this industry - is estimated at around five million animals, nearly the highest level ever recorded, and almost triple what it was in the 1970s," a Department of Fisheries and Oceans statement said. Large scale hunts will continue to be allowed until the harp seal population drops below four million.

Environmental activists protest and observe the hunt annually, but this year's larger number of seals has brought a bigger response. Observers are already in the hunt area, and officials said if too many show up they will be prevented from interfering with the hunt. The annual protests, and the publication of photos of the hunt, are a public relations problem for Canada.

Protests were held in 50 cities around the world last week, and activists say they would press consumers and restaurants to avoid Canadian fish for at least the duration of the hunt.

"We're going to be encouraging consumers to enter into dialogue with their grocery stores and their restaurants and say 'Please don't serve Canadian seafood' or 'I won't buy Canadian seafood until this hunt is over'," said Pat Ragan of the Humane Society of the United States HSUS to ''Reuters''.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare sponsored two independent veterinary teams to observe the 2001 hunt which concluded the animals are often (42% of the time) killed in an inhumane manner and not in accordance with Canada's own laws.