Finally , some common sense...re-CULL

[capt hook]

Some of you may remember my thread re- Native culling seals and sea lions for food and skins.
Well , its gonna happen.
I urge all on here to support this and voice your approval to your MP or PRESS or?
Just saying cool , and giving it a nod , is not enough.
Please speak up somewhere , somehow , and VOICE your approval.
This is our only chance , as DFO and OTTAWA will never do it.
WE ARE the WEST COAST , and need to speak up for the WC.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/seal-hunt-b-c-1.4921610

 

[wildmanyeah]

Some of you may remember my thread re- Native culling seals and sea lions for food and skins.
Well , its gonna happen.
I urge all on here to support this and voice your approval to your MP or PRESS or?
Just saying cool , and giving it a nod , is not enough.
Please speak up somewhere , somehow , and VOICE your approval.
This is our only chance , as DFO and OTTAWA will never do it.
WE ARE the WEST COAST , and need to speak up for the WC.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/seal-hunt-b-c-1.4921610

This guy is so dumb, He identifies overfishing as a problem, WTF do you think seals are THEIR FISHERMEN

"Others disagree, including Peter Ross, the vice-president of research and executive director of the Coastal Ocean Research Institute.

"Killing of seals and sea lions is not going to have any positive impact for any salmon populations in coastal British Columbia," he said.

"While a few localized populations of salmon might benefit from a cull, Ross said climate change, habitat destruction and overfishing are all bigger factors in the overall decline of stocks."

 

[Gramps]

This is awesome news, thanks for post.

 

[california]

Thete are multiple threads on the pinniped balance group and their cull. Probably doesnt belong in the reports section.

 

[capt hook]

i put it in the reports section as it would get more ....readers.
i,m shocked that California only mentioned that and did not flame the whole idea.
So back to thread..
I appeal to all readers who agree to SPEAK OUT.

 

[searun]

I will speak out. Those who are calling for culls don't apparently read the science. There are no published science based reports that say a wide spread "cull" is a good idea. The only evidence based research that narrows down what to do points to small scale experiments to target specific problem animals at very specific sites - usually estuaries where we have harbour seals that have become specialists in targeting out-migrant smolts. Anyone who is supporting culling 140,000 animals needs to take a step back and read some of the science, because an all out cull isn't the answer.

 

[IronNoggin]

An all out cull is not what is being sought here.
The right to harvest set numbers in set areas are.

 

[OldBlackDog]

Science has been done. Puntledge River was the test. It proved the point.
It also showed it must be done annually

Now, what rivers do you propose not to do this on?

I will speak out. Those who are calling for culls don't apparently read the science. There are no published science based reports that say a wide spread "cull" is a good idea. The only evidence based research that narrows down what to do points to small scale experiments to target specific problem animals at very specific sites - usually estuaries where we have harbour seals that have become specialists in targeting out-migrant smolts. Anyone who is supporting culling 140,000 animals needs to take a step back and read some of the science, because an all out cull isn't the answer.

 

[Derby]

Lol.... SBD pull your head out of your arse...

 

[OldBlackDog]

Puntledge was not an all out cull. It was very specific.
It was all about the habituated seals who were eating the fry.

That was shown to work.


It s exactly what Searun was talking about.

Lol.... SBD pull your head out of your arse...

 

[SerengetiGuide]

I wish there was an all out cull. However taking out them at choke points (I’d say every river...in an ideal world) will work great as Puntledge showed.

 

[california]

Science has been done. Puntledge River was the test. It proved the point.
It also showed it must be done annually

Now, what rivers do you propose not to do this on?

The science is far from done. The puntledge was not definitive, new seals replaced those killed very quickly. It was only done for one season, no other systems were analyzed as a control. The returns were modestly higher 4 years later, but returns on any given year vary significantly so it's difficult to draw any conclusions. A real study would look at several years and analyze other similar systems with no kills to provide a control. Certainly the data from the recent UBC symposium showing seals in the cowichan estuary having smolts only consist of 3% of their diet in the spring casts some doubt on how extensive seal predation effects smolt production. However with a large number of seals each eating small number of smolts could still add up, and there may be certain seals within the estuary population who specialize more than others. Overall Most of their diet consisted of forage fish and hake, a potential salmon smolt predator. Another study showed herons were eating as much as 3% of the smolts released on the cowichan, perhaps they need a cull too?

 

[OldBlackDog]

And the reason it was not allowed to continue was politics.

It’s not because they were not asked to by their own people.
It’s because they could not stand the pressure from the greens.

There has been no other systems analyzed for this reason. It is not because DFO Personal have not requested it.

The science is far from done. The puntledge was not definitive, new seals replaced those killed very quickly. It was only done for one season, no other systems were analyzed as a control. The returns were modestly higher 4 years later, but returns on any given year vary significantly so it's difficult to draw any conclusions. A real study would look at several years and analyze other similar systems with no kills to provide a control. Certainly the data from the recent UBC symposium showing seals in the cowichan estuary having smolts only consist of 3% of their diet in the spring casts some doubt on how extensive seal predation effects smolt production. However with a large number of seals each eating small number of smolts could still add up, and there may be certain seals within the estuary population who specialize more than others. Overall Most of their diet consisted of forage fish and hake, a potential salmon smolt predator. Another study showed herons were eating as much as 3% of the smolts released on the cowichan, perhaps they need a cull too?

 

[agentaqua]

p.5: "Seal predation has been identified as a significant contributor to juvenile and adult salmonid mortality within the Courtenay River and the lowest reaches of the Puntledge River. Detailed assessments conducted in 1990 and 1995 estimated that seals consumed 24% of the returning summer chinook adults and 15% of the out-migrating juvenile salmonids respectively in the river (Olesiuk et al. 1995 and 1996). One of the key findings during these assessments was that a significant proportion of the total consumption of fry and smolts was performed by a small number of seals (of the larger population that inhabit the Courtenay River estuary during April-May) that had developed a specialized foraging behaviour at the 5th and 17th Street bridges whereby they would utilize light cast from the bridges to silhouette and capture outmigrating salmon fry and smolts (Olesiuk et al. 1995)."
http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2012/mpo-dfo/Fs97-6-2459-eng.pdf

 

[wildmanyeah]

And the reason it was not allowed to continue was politics.

It’s not because they were not asked to by their own people.
It’s because they could not stand the pressure from the greens.

There has been no other systems analyzed for this reason. It is not because DFO Personal have not requested it.

Yep and was pushed for on the Fraser 10 years ago, What ever happened hmmm.....?

https://www.straight.com/article-156573/native-seal-kills-fraser-raise-questions

"Vancouver-based DFO spokesperson Diane Lake told the Straight that, according to a department assessment made in 2000, there are about 1,600 seals in the Fraser River. Lake said that until applications have been made the department can’t comment on the Native fishers’ plan to ask for permits to kill seals."

What happened to those applications? were they even ever applied for?