Plankton + Fish
+ Seals
= Healthy Ocean

  Home                                   Re: broad shifts in ocean health, see:  The Starving Ocean    

"If the fish-seal cooperative loses its "balance," a quantum downshift to a low-energy, low-oxygen ocean can be anticipated. And this change promises to shock us with its abruptness. Bacteria, uncontrolled blooms of primitive algae, and sluggish invertebrates like jellyfish, will dominate the sea, and the transformation will be permanent on the time scale that is relevant to living humans."                                                     

from "Grey Seal Hunt 2004" by Debbie MacKenzie 

Atlantic Seal Management Plan 2003

The only meaningful science that helps us see how we should 'manage' seals is ecosystem science.

This involves taking an honest, comprehensive look at the whole picture, and nothing less. Read: Sea Creatures Make a Healthy Ocean Planet, Air Included and Grey Seal Hunt 2004

Unfortunately seal management decisions continue to be based on single species science. This does not work to protect the ecosystem overall, which must be our top priority.

Below are examples of our inadequate current approach, single species science...

 How many seals are there? And how much fish are they eating?

...as the pursuit of these two questions seems to define seal "ecology" research in Canada today.

The following excerpt is taken from a backgrounder on "Seals" from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)   http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/backgrou/2003/hq-ac01b_e.htm

"The resident (grey seal) population whelping in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (65,000) may be declining while the population whelping on Sable Island (135,000) may be growing...

Canada is one of several coastal countries where annual seal hunts are conducted. Aboriginal peoples have hunted seals for food, fuel and clothing for hundreds of years. The seal hunt provides valuable income to about 12,000 sealers and their families in Eastern Canada. According to the Canadian Sealers Association, the 2002 hunt contributed an estimated $48 million to the regional economy in product sales and indirect economic spin-offs.

Traditionally, the pelts have been the main commodity, but production of seal oil for human consumption has grown substantially in recent years. While Canadian seal products are sold internationally, 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).

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) established an Eminent Panel on Seal Management to ensure that the future management of seals is based on the best possible science with a balanced perspective on the impact of seals on fish and the size of seal herds and annual harvest. The panel’s report, which was submitted in the fall of 2001, helped DFO develop a multi-year management strategy for seals from 2003 to 2005. The report’s findings formed the basis of consultations during the Seal Forum held in St. John’s, in November 2002. More than 200 Canadian organizations were invited to attend and make written submissions related to the multi-year plan."

From the conclusions of the report of the Eminent Panel on Seal Management:

"Current estimates of cod consumption by seals vary greatly from less than one per cent to more than 20 per cent of diet, depending on the type of seal researched, the time of year and location of the studies. The panel concluded that more comprehensive research needs to be done to more accurately estimate the amount of cod that seals are consuming."

GSCS comment: "comprehensive" marine research today might be expected to pose a few more questions than "how much cod are seals eating?"

A bizarre little item here from a DFO page about seals losing their hair:
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/waves-ondes/2002/03-2002_e.htm )


"The Bald Facts on Seals".   It’s not easy being a seal these days. In recent
months there have been many reports of seals coming on shore in the oddest
places. In January, a hooded seal blocked a main highway in Newfoundland and had
to be removed – not an easy task. In the Maritimes, DFO recently had to put out
a warning, asking people not to touch any strays they found. And one very
smart hooded seal even showed up in the Caribbean this past year.
But now the story takes a different twist. It seems many seals are showing up
a little thin on top…in fact, they’re bald.
In late January, VOCM, an AM radio station in St. John’s interviewed DFO
biologist Garry Stenson to find out more about this phenomenon that has occurred
in Greenland and the United Kingdom as well as on our shores. He told listeners
about the many questions he and his team are trying to answer.
"It might have to do with stress, a lack of ice for them to haul out on
during the moulting period. Another idea is that it might be related in some way to
contaminants. But we really don’t know. We’re starting to gather information
that will help vets who are trying to identify the causes."
Garry Stenson, DFO biologist,
VOCM-AM, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
25 January 2002
The follically-challenged seals are of three different species: hooded, harp
and grey. Stenson assured listeners that the seals don’t need their fur for
insulation – they’ve got blubber and fat to fill that need. Any parallels you
can draw to middle aged male humans is purely coincidental."

The following excerpts are taken from: "The Atlantic Seal Management Plan 2003 "                 

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal-phoque/reports-rapports/mgtplan-plangest2003/mgtplan-plangest2003_e.htm 

Grey Seals                                                                                                                                                      

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence year-round. In the summer, they can be found in the St. Lawrence River estuary as far upriver as the Saguenay. Grey seals breed on Sable Island, on small islands and on the ice floes in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, the eastern shore of Nova Scotia and in the New England States from late December to early February. After breeding, they disperse, mainly to the Scotian Shelf, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the southern coast of Newfoundland.                                    

The grey seal population was estimated to be 195,000 animals in 1997, with the main breeding concentrations being in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and on Sable Island. Using the data from the 1997 population survey, projections estimate that the herd on Sable Island has been growing and may have more than doubled, but the Gulf herd has declined by 33% since 1997.                                                                                    

Only small numbers of grey seals are hunted each year and a TAC has not been established. Sealing is limited to a small traditional commercial hunt in an area off the Magdalen Islands and to commercial hunts of small numbers of grey seals in other areas, except Sable Island where no commercial hunting is permitted. Since 1998, commercial sealers have taken 819 grey seals...

Species Interactions                                                                                                                                      Seals in Atlantic Canada consume large quantities of fish. Although highly uncertain, estimates of the amounts of some commercial fish species consumed by seals are large in comparison to current fisheries catches or biomass estimates.                                                                                                                                                        

Seals also consume large quantities of capelin, which is an important prey for many commercial fish species. Many believe that the predation and competition by seals are responsible for the absence of recovery in many groundfish stocks.                                                                                                                                         

The Eminent Panel on Seal Management reviewed the information available on fish consumption by seals. The Panel indicated that understanding the impact of seal predation on fish populations is a difficult problem as it refers to ecosystem interactions that are complex.                                                         

The Panel concluded that seals consume large amounts of fish throughout Atlantic Canada, but that there was much less evidence that this predation was having a major impact on the recovery of most commercial fish stocks. The Panel noted that many of these stocks would probably take a long time to recover to fully exploitable levels, even if all seal predation is removed.                                                                              

However, the Panel stated that the estimated consumption of Atlantic cod by seals in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) Divisions 4RS3Pn and 2J3KL is particularly large and this may be contributing to the apparently high levels of mortality experienced by those stocks. The Panel however pointed out the high level of uncertainties associated with the estimates of seal consumption. The estimated levels of consumption in 2J3KL cannot be reconciled with the current estimates of abundance of fish stocks."

Seal Exclusion Zones                                                                                                                                     The concept of seal exclusion zones (or cod conservation areas) is an area-specific management scenario aimed at protecting small areas where cod spawn or aggregate.
The feasibility of the establishment of exclusion zones to protect overwintering aggregations of cod from harp seals is not clear. However, if feasible, they may only be effective in fjord-like environments like Smith Sound in eastern Newfoundland. The Eminent Panel on Seal Management recommended that any attempt to establish such zones should take the form of a scientifically designed trial. The Panel was not convinced that lethal removal of seals would afford significant protection of overwintering aggregations of northern cod.
The Department is evaluating the feasibility and value of establishing seal exclusion zones to protect aggregations of spawning and juvenile groundfish in Atlantic Canada and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence."

Research                                                                                                                                                         The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has maintained an active seal research program for many years. This program is aimed at better understanding fluctuations in seal populations and the factors that influence numbers and vital rates, as well as the role of seals in marine ecosystems. 

Recently, most of the research has focussed on the population dynamics and the impact of seals on their prey. Research being carried out includes long-term trends in reproductive performance and survival, foraging ecology (seasonal movements and diving behaviour) and diets of seals. These studies are providing a better understanding of predation on fish and invertebrate stocks by seals and how seals interaction with other components of their ecosystem. For example, DFO researchers are studying the transfer of contaminants from females to pups, the impact of contaminants on immune system function, the measurement of heartrate as an indication of energy expenditure, environmental effects on maternal condition, pup growth and size at weaning, and seasonal changes in energy storage and allocation to reproduction.
Other aspects of the seal science program include the monitoring of the health, growth and condition of seals, and determining stock structure, and parasite loads.

DFO research is carried out in collaboration with the Dalhousie University, University of Waterloo, Laval University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, The Sea Mammal Research Unit, St. Andrews University, The Smithsonian Institution, The National Geographic Society, the Norwegian Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, and Aquaplann (Tromso, Norway) ." 

(GSCS): "the role of seals in marine ecosystems" is still viewed through a narrow lens by this rather large group.

Trade and Trade Barriers                                                                                                                    Companies continue to pursue marketing opportunities for seal products in Asian markets such as China and Korea.Canadian seal products are unable to access the United States market due to the prohibition on the import of seal products under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). This prohibition has been in place since 1972, and the federal government is working in cooperation with provincial governments, Aboriginal representatives and the sealing industry to affect changes that would lead to the elimination of this trade barrier. The Department of Foreign Affairs has the lead on this issue, and is presently developing a plan in an effort to open the U.S. market to Canadian sealing products.

Campaigns and Public Information
The federal government provides factual information about the harvest rate, the nature of the seal hunt, enforcement and conservation measures to diplomatic posts and to foreign and domestic media, businesses, government representatives and citizens.

News releases, fact sheets and backgrounders can be found at DFO’s website ( www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca ).     

Plus, additional information specifically dedicated to seals can be accessed at:
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/seal-phoque/index_e.htm

Home

Contact GSCS by email