(Excerpted
article...)
Seal
hunt opponents win ear of committee
Members agree to meet with scientists
By BILL POWER Staff Reporter
A
group battling a proposed grey seal hunt in Nova Scotia won the
ear of some members of the provincial legislature’s standing
committee on resources last week.
Committee
members agreed to meet with scientists to discuss what impact
the grey seal might have on fish stocks after hearing the case
against a proposed hunt from the Grey
Seal Conservation Society.
"I
was actually really pleased with the way some of the MLAs responded
to the material and with some of the questions raised," society
chairwoman Debbie MacKenzie said after a two-hour session.
The
federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has allocated a quota
of 10,000 grey seals for a commercial harvest, but there has been
little response from industry.
However,
there has been a call for a cull to reduce the grey seal population
by 50 per cent from an industry organization called the Grey Seal
Research and Development Society, which claims grey seals are
devouring seriously depleted fish stocks.
The
Grey Seal Conservation Society pleaded with members of the standing
committee to avoid being involved in promoting a grey seal hunt
until there is a complete review of federal law and government
policy.
In
a discussion paper on grey seals, the society also asked the province
to meet with federal fisheries officials to get a comprehensive
report on the current status of the ocean ecosystem.
"The
industry is convinced there is a shortage of fish because of grey
seal consumption," said Ms. MacKenzie. "The ocean ecologists
know different, but there is a total lack of communication between
the two."
Grey
seals are winning few friends in the fishing industry, where fishermen
are becoming increasingly vocal about the sea mammals munching
on groundfish hooked by long-liners.
There
have also been frequent complaints from lobster fishermen of grey
seals following boats and gobbling up undersized lobster as they
are tossed back.
MLA
Harold Theriault insisted a managed cull of the growing grey seal
herd makes sense and has proven successful in restoring fisheries
in Iceland and Norway...
(
bpower@herald.ca)
See
also:
Standing
Committiee on Fisheries and Oceans - Evidence, November 09, 2006
HANSARD
- Grey Seal Conservation Society(GSCS) and the committee on Natural
Resources...
(Grey
Seals at Seal Cove, Brier Island)