Seal hunting, or sealing, was the commercial hunting of seals which brought alot of money into the state of Connecticut early on.

There were three types of seals hunted: Harp, Bluebacks, and Natsiq.

The most common seal which was hunted was the Harp seal in the Atlantic.

Also hunted were young, hooded seals (bluebacks). When the seal pups begin to molt their downy white fur at the age of 12–14 days, they were called "ragged-jacket" and then were commercially hunted. After molting, the seals were called "beaters", named for the way they beat the water with their flippers. Their meat was an important source of fat, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and iron, and the pelts were prized for their warmth.

The Natsiq (ringed seal) were a main staple for food, and were been used for clothing, boots, and fuel for lamps.

Seal coats have long been prized for their warmth. Seal oil was often used as lamp fuel, lubricating and cooking oil, for processing such materials as leather and jute, as a constituent of soap, and as the liquid base for red ochre paint.

Sealing became more prevalent in the late 1700s when seal herds in the southern hemisphere began to be hunted by whalers.

In 1778, English sealers brought back from the Island of South Georgia and the Magellan Strait area as many as 40,000 seal skins and 2,800 tons of elephant seal oil. In 1791, 102 vessels, manned by 3000 sealers, were hunting seals south of the equator. The principal American sealing ports were Stonington and New Haven, Connecticut.  Most of the pelts taken during these expeditions would be sold in China.

The Newfoundland seal hunt became an annually recorded event starting in 1723. By the late 1800s, sealing had become the second most important industry in Newfoundland, second only to cod fishing.