cohochinook
Well-Known Member
Recent paper published by Dr. Carl Walters on decline of Fraser River Sockeye and link to Sealions
Dr. Carl Walters on decline of Fraser River Sockeye and link to Sealions
- Thread starter cohochinook
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chromatose007
Well-Known Member
Now who woulda' thunk that???
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Is that wh sea lion heads are going missing?
searun
Well-Known Member
Here's the most significant quote from this paper, which shows the systemic political nature of DFO's approach to applying science when managing threat risks to our fisheries. Simply stated, it is politically expedient to look the other way and target low hanging fruit such as applying fishery restrictions as a recovery tool, while turning a blind eye to one of the most significant threat pillars to stock recovery - pinniped predation. As the author's of this report note, had Stellar Sea Lion (SSL) been cited as a previously unknown "Fishery" it would have been labelled as a threat and DFO would have implemented immediate and substantial restrictions to contain the threat. However, because it is politically risky to apply science to this threat - DFO management simply ignores the scientifically obvious. Politics before science.
The current British Columbia SSL population very likely consumes in excess of 300,000 t of fish per year, larger than the total catch of all capture fisheries and aquaculture combined. Had Olesiuk’s (2018) report on growth of the SSL population been instead about growth of a previously unreported fishery of such magnitude, it is difficult to imagine that the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the federal lead organization for management of Canada’s fisheries, oceans and freshwater resources would have hesitated before at least initiating intensive research work on the impact of that fishery on major commercial fish stocks, and would quite possibly have taken immediate, emergency action to reduce such impacts so as to bring the “fishery” under control.
The current British Columbia SSL population very likely consumes in excess of 300,000 t of fish per year, larger than the total catch of all capture fisheries and aquaculture combined. Had Olesiuk’s (2018) report on growth of the SSL population been instead about growth of a previously unreported fishery of such magnitude, it is difficult to imagine that the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the federal lead organization for management of Canada’s fisheries, oceans and freshwater resources would have hesitated before at least initiating intensive research work on the impact of that fishery on major commercial fish stocks, and would quite possibly have taken immediate, emergency action to reduce such impacts so as to bring the “fishery” under control.
Since the Sockeye are in decline as stated why would there not be a lot of starving or dead Sea Lions? Don't overlook Fish Farms but hey this NGO has no bias right? Don't look here look over there. https://fisheries.org/2020/07/north-american-journal-of-aquaculture-seeks-associate-editors/
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