That's right the headline is not a joke it is cold weather that prevented the hunting of the Gray seal this year. Hunters said that the ice surrounding Magdalen Island was too thick and that they weren't able to get to the seals. In a normal year these hunters are able to get about 2,000 gray seals for restaurants in the Quebec area. Seal meat is a delicacy that is sometimes served in restaurants.
One hunter named Rejean Vigneau is also a restaurateur and owns a seal meat processing plant. He claims that he isn't going to be able to hire the seasonal help he normally is able to hire in order to process the meat. He also thinks that he's going to have to layoff some of his full time help because of the results from this disastrous hunt. If ice conditions in March off the coast of Newfoundland for harp seal season is just as bad 2018 maybe a very, very rough year for Rejean Vigneau and others like him.
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/montreal/bad-season-seal-hunt-magdalen-islands-1.4526262