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Solution to grey seal problem twofold
by Carla Allen/The Vanguard View all articles from Carla Allen/The Vanguard
Article online since August 18th 2008, 7:00
Read all 3 comments about this article / Comment on this article
Solution to grey seal problem twofold
By Carla Allen
THE COAST GUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
Politicians are recognizing the threat posed by an expanding grey seal population says the founder of the Grey Seal Research and Development Society but the problem can’t be solved simply by increasing the quota.
THE COAST GUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
Politicians are recognizing the threat posed by an expanding grey seal population says the founder of the Grey Seal Research and Development Society but the problem can’t be solved simply by increasing the quota.
Provincial fisheries minister Ron Chisholm asked Ottawa last week to urge the European Parliament to reject a proposed ban on the import of seal products. He also wants the federal government to increase the grey seal quota.
There is a quota of 12,000 for the Maritimes region, but in the past, hundreds rather than thousands of seals have been harvested.
Sealers must be assistant sealers for two years before becoming professional and the biggest problem they face is access to the seals.
Society spokesperson Denny Morrow says a promise made to him by federal fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn earlier this year hasn’t been kept.
“He was here in early spring and committed to me during a meeting that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans would be looking to make changes in how Nova Scotia seal hunters could be licensed to make it easier for new hunters to get licenses. Since that commitment, I’ve heard nothing from Ottawa,” he said.
However Morrow is pleased about Chisholm’s initiative.
“It’s a big step forward to have the Department of Fisheries doing this. I give the minister full credit for speaking out publicly in the media about the need to reduce the grey seal numbers and the need to do it on Sable Island. We do need the higher quota and we do need access to Sable Island. That’s where the big herd is at and where it’s concentrated,” he said.
A continuing problem faced by those concerned about the impact of an estimated 300,000 grey seals on the fishery is that Department of Fisheries and Oceans seal scientists continue to say they are unsure about the impact of grey seals on fish stocks says Morrow.
“As long as they say that publicly it’s very difficult to gain acceptance from the general public around the world about the need to reduce the numbers. The scientists continue to ignore the impact of parasites in fish that come from grey seals that we know are killing the fish. We have fishermen who are observing spawning fish being chased off spawning grounds by large number of grey seals,” he said.
Morrow added that in the United Kingdom grey seals have been scientifically observed eating large amounts of herring, cod and haddock.
“They are opportunistic feeders, whatever is most abundant in the area and serves their nutritional requirements, gets eaten,” he said.
There is a quota of 12,000 for the Maritimes region, but in the past, hundreds rather than thousands of seals have been harvested.
Sealers must be assistant sealers for two years before becoming professional and the biggest problem they face is access to the seals.
Society spokesperson Denny Morrow says a promise made to him by federal fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn earlier this year hasn’t been kept.
“He was here in early spring and committed to me during a meeting that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans would be looking to make changes in how Nova Scotia seal hunters could be licensed to make it easier for new hunters to get licenses. Since that commitment, I’ve heard nothing from Ottawa,” he said.
However Morrow is pleased about Chisholm’s initiative.
“It’s a big step forward to have the Department of Fisheries doing this. I give the minister full credit for speaking out publicly in the media about the need to reduce the grey seal numbers and the need to do it on Sable Island. We do need the higher quota and we do need access to Sable Island. That’s where the big herd is at and where it’s concentrated,” he said.
A continuing problem faced by those concerned about the impact of an estimated 300,000 grey seals on the fishery is that Department of Fisheries and Oceans seal scientists continue to say they are unsure about the impact of grey seals on fish stocks says Morrow.
“As long as they say that publicly it’s very difficult to gain acceptance from the general public around the world about the need to reduce the numbers. The scientists continue to ignore the impact of parasites in fish that come from grey seals that we know are killing the fish. We have fishermen who are observing spawning fish being chased off spawning grounds by large number of grey seals,” he said.
Morrow added that in the United Kingdom grey seals have been scientifically observed eating large amounts of herring, cod and haddock.
“They are opportunistic feeders, whatever is most abundant in the area and serves their nutritional requirements, gets eaten,” he said.
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Your comments
Al
Comment online since August 19th 2008The thing that is not mentioned in this article is that seals in general have the most nastiest parasite in them "Coil Worm" it multiplies in billions in their bladder and gets excrited. Not only it gets into fish and affects functions of the liver, but also gets into birds and kills off birds!( seaguls and others!) By letting th populations "go" all these animal rights groups and green peace are actually destroying real nature and fauna, by protecting seals! I can't wait until one day it will be too late and millins of angry people going to turn around and look at these organizations with a very BIG/Angry Question mark! Way to go!
Kathy Birt
Comment online since August 18th 2008Good article...helps me, as a journalist, get a better prespective on seal populations..as I just finished a story on the proposed ban by the EU
For the general pubic and animal rights groups, if they listen, we have to realize that although we'd like to let nature take it's course, sometimes humans have to interveine to keep things in perspective
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Bridget Curran
Comment online since August 20th 2008Is Denny Morrow, Secretary/Treasurer of a society that promotes the senseless and inhumane killing of grey seals, attempting to tell scientists exactly what to say to garner public support for slaughtering grey seals en masse?
I'm sure Mr. Morrow finds it unfortunate that DFO is no longer able to muzzle its own scientists. Those scientists are refuting the claims of fishermen and politicians that seals are "eating all the fish" and are now pointing out that there is no evidence to suggest seals are responsible for the collapse of codstocks and that they simply do not know if killing seals will bring back the fish.
In 2006 Denny Morrow was pushing the government for permission to kill grey seals in large concentrations on islands, using nets and drown-type set traps. Killing seals in this manner has been condemned by both the EFSA in its recent report to the European Commission, and by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.
Provincial Fisheries Minister Ron Chisholm's knee-jerk and childish reaction to the proposed EU-wide ban on seal products is a public embarrassment. To suggest that the fragile ecosystem of protected Sable Island can survive being trampled by two dozen fishermen wielding wooden bats or guns is ludicrous. What is the alternative? To drown the seals? As stated above, both the EFSA and CMVA have stated that drowning seals is inhumane. Any attempt to kill grey seals on Sable Island will not be tolerated.
I suspect Mr. Morrow has had no further commitment from Loyola Hearn because at the time of Hearn's original promise, the grey seal slaughter was still relatively unknown, both in Nova Scotia and around the world. The events of Hay Island this past February - where 1,260 grey seal pups were bludgeoned with wooden bats and cut open with boxcutters by fishermen in a protected wilderness area, with the blessing and funding of the provincial and federal governments - have changed that. A spotlight has been shone on Nova Scotia and the inhumane manner in which we kill grey seals. International condemnation formerly focused on the harp/hooded slaughter has expanded to include the grey slaughter, and the seafood boycott - already extremely damaging to the Canadian seafood industry - will be broadened accordingly. Perhaps Minister Hearn is having second thoughts about enabling and promoting an expansion of seal slaughter when the majority of Canadians oppose the commercial killing of seals and world markets are closing their doors to the grisly products derived from the Canadian sealing industry.
There is no scientific, logical or ethical justification for killing seals. There are alternatives to killing seals. It's a matter of commonsense. Abolish the killing and implement the alternatives. If the government continues to refuse to do this, they will find that the votes of fishermen pale into insignificance when compared to the votes of the majority of Canadians who oppose the commercial seal hunt and wanted it ended.