Seals arouse a wide variety of emotions in different groups of people, but the strong feeling toward these marine mammals by fishermen in Atlantic Canada is that they are keeping the devastated cod stocks from rebuilding by eating tons of juvenile cod.
Harvesters who have been seeking a higher quota for the taking of seals since the cod moratorium was imposed more than 10 years ago have finally gotten their wish. For the next three years, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans will allow the killing of 975,000 harp seals in the region, an average of 50,000 more animals per year.
Protests of the historically controversial hunt are anticipated, especially since one environmental group immediately announced its intention to bring a delegation to the region to work against the harvest.
Scientists are not in full agreement on the effect of seals on the cod stocks, but recent Newfoundland provincial fisheries ministers are. After the cod moratorium, former minister John Efford lobbied Ottawa for years to double the seal hunt, citing reports from fishermen finding hundreds of young cod at a time with their bellies ripped out by seals. Current Newfoundland Fisheries Minister Gerry Reid applauded the increase in the total allowable catch, saying the hunt will help control the seal population and protect threatened cod stocks.
“There is not a simple, straight-line relationship between seal predation and the state of fish populations,” states a DFO report titled “Impact of Seal Predation on Cod,” which also notes that the interaction among seals, groundfish and other species is complex and variable.
This report from the Eminent Panel on Seal Management concluded that seals consume large amounts of fish throughout Atlantic Canada, but “there is much less evidence that this predation is having a major impact on the recovery of most commercial fish stocks.”
“Seals eat cod, but seals also eat other fish that prey on cod. Moreover, other factors such as environmental changes and fishing levels must be considered in trying to determine why cod stocks have not yet recovered.
“The harp seal population has grown to the highest level recorded. Coupled with the fact that the annual TAC has rarely been taken in full, the panel expects a gradual increase in seal numbers if the current management approach is maintained.
“Current estimates of cod consumption by seals vary greatly from less than one percent to more than 20 percent of diet, depending on the type of seal researched, the time of year and location of the studies,” the report continued.
The panel concluded that more comprehensive research needs to be done to more accurately estimate the amount of cod that seals are consuming.
Federal Fisheries Minister Robert Thibault announced the conclusions in early February, saying no more than 350,000 of the seals may be killed in any single year. The North Atlantic harp seal population is “healthy and abundant,” Thibault said, with an estimated 5.2 million animals based on a recent government survey, up from 1.8 million in 1970.
According to the Canadian Sealers Association, the 2002 hunt contributed an estimated $48 million (Canadian) to the regional economy in product sales and indirect economic spin-offs. While the pelts have been the main commodity traditionally, the DFO says production of seal oil for human consumption has grown substantially in recent years.
Canadian seal products are sold internationally, but the U.S. market has been closed to Canadian seal products for the past 30 years due to the ban on the importation of marine mammal products under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972).
The DFO will monitor the seal hunt by using at-sea surveillance and dockside checks to monitor quotas. The DFO also says it promotes the fullest possible use of each animal harvested.
The government also said it will look at the idea of ‘seal exclusion zones’ around cod-spawning areas to help devastated fish stocks recover.
The seal hunt is not new to controversy. The bloody killing and skinning of white seal pups on the ice for their fur was documented by environmental groups in the 1980s. Protests on the ice attracted celebrities, including French movie star Brigitte Bardot. International pressure finally resulted in a ban on the seal pup harvest in 1986.