Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
I believe seal fur is only marketable from the pups in their first few days of life so the supply was bound to be extremely small from small, widely separated areas.
This is a common misconception. Sealing is still legal in Norway, and sealskins are commonly available as rugs or wall decorations as well as worked into shoes, garments, purses etc. I've never seen a baby-seal skin nor a product made from baby seal. White cubs (very young seals) are illegal to hunt or kill (as are adult seals during mating and birthing season). The grey, black-spotted sealskins used for sporrans are from adult seals.

And as a side note, the seal isn't hunted just for skin, but also for food (the meat is supposedly delicious), and the bones are used for buttons, jewellery etc.