BCWF Supports Pinniped Harvest

[IronNoggin]

December 2, 2020
The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6

Dear Minister Jordan,

I write you today to make you aware of BCWF’s position regarding proposed control pinniped populations in B.C. In short, the BCWF supports controlled harvest of pinniped’s along B.C.’s coast because there is currently an imbalance between pinnipeds and their prey, namely wild salmon, herring, and other fish stocks of concern.

There is now good science available to give some insight about what has happened to the pinniped populations in B.C. and how these out-of-control populations are affecting many species of fish. Amongst several other scientists, Dr. Carl Walters of the University of British Columbia has produced studies that show that Steller Sea Lions alone consume over 1,000,000 Fraser River sockeye.

Seals are also of great concern. Their population has also expanded wildly in the last 50 years. Though the seals consume far less from a total consumption perspective, seals are calculated to consume over 40% of chinook and coho smolts in the Salish Sea (Gulf of Georgia). In some river systems, it is estimated that seals can consume up to 85% of outbound salmon smolts. With predation levels this high, when these smolts are just heading out to sea, it is hardly surprising that some rivers get any more than a handful of adult fish returning at the end of their life cycle.

The BCWF also recognizes that ocean survival is problematic but there is little opportunity to influence this overriding issue. Controlling numbers of predators of endangered fish stocks is something that your department can control. For example, there are currently IFMP proposals submitted to your ministry for a managed harvest of pinnipeds here in B.C. These proposals are backed by science, would help save these precious fish stocks, would help increase food abundance for the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales and other species, and would provide employment opportunities for fishers in many coastal communities.

These are all positive steps that could happen with approval of these IFMPs by your ministry. Pinniped removal in rivers in the USA Pacific Northwest indicate immediate, positive effects on returning fish populations.

Though we realize that a harvest of pinnipeds may be controversial in some segments of society, we urge your ministry to approve a managed pinniped harvest in BC.

We hope that you, as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, have the courage to make this difficult decision and support the managed harvest of pinnipeds in B.C. The future of endangered fish stocks in B.C. is in your hands.

Yours in conservation,

Bill Bosch
President
B.C. Wildlife Federation
101-9706 188th St, Surrey, BC V4N 3M2 | T: 604-882-9988 TF: 1-888-881-2293 F: 604-882-9933 | www.bcwf.bc.ca

Posted with permission...
Nog

 

[wildmanyeah]

Sea Shepherd’s declaration of media war against BC seal hunt​

Sea Shepherd’s declaration of media war against BC seal hunt - Common Ground

The proposal to kill seals is a program to demonize and scapegoat seals for the mismanagement of the fisheries by Canada's DFO.

commonground.ca

 

[IronNoggin]

Paul and his cronies are running jokes.
I've dealt with them many times, from the Arctic to BC.
Typical of their ilk, they often turn tail and run when the going gets tough.
Expected this type of rhetoric from him - no surprises here.

Nog

 

[wildmanyeah]

I have not seen on BCWF letter on social media so it will be interesting to see if the rebuttals come out once it goes viral

 

[IronNoggin]

I have not seen on BCWF letter on social media so it will be interesting to see if the rebuttals come out once it goes viral

Be VERY careful what you are insinuating here.

Nog

 

[agentaqua]

Paul and his cronies are running jokes.
I've dealt with them many times, from the Arctic to BC.
Typical of their ilk, they often turn tail and run when the going gets tough.
Expected this type of rhetoric from him - no surprises here.

Nog

Unfortunately, Nog - little ol ladies w small fortunes and way too many cats often lap-up the PR material presented in the SSS website and keep these crooks and malignant narcissists in the black. Once these little ol ladies empty their bank accounts they then write letters to their elected reps so that things like EU fur bans happen - causing the expected end of large-scale seal hunts.

So, SSS and their ilk are actually fairly effective predators - preying on the well-intended, but inexperienced and misinformed urbanites. I wish they were but only a bad joke. Ask me how I really feel...

 

[ericl]

Though we realize that a harvest of pinnipeds may be controversial in some segments of society, we urge your ministry to approve a managed pinniped harvest in BC.

That is probably what is happening in WA right now - managed harvest. Typical of the "huggers", they are out of touch with reality, and seem to fan the emotional fires to get contributions to support their cushy jobs. They DO have a point on DFO mismanagement but blame won't fix things.

 

[IronNoggin]

That is probably what is happening in WA right now - managed harvest.

Washington State Fish and Wildlife published a paper last summer indicating that the sea lions in the Columbia River consume between3 to 5 returning adult chinook/day. A cull program is now in effect on the Columbia, with 2300 sea lions removed to date.

Winter steelhead stocks at the Williamette Falls fish ways were down to < 750 three years ago and last year registered > 2500, indicating that the removals are working positively towards bringing an almost extinct stock back.

The same can and will work this side of the Medicine Line.

Cheers,
Nog

 

[ericl]

he same can and will work this side of the Medicine Line.

Right-on - IMO these bastards are an invasive species & can ALL go. Bit of an unofficial cull happening near Seattle; a few wash-up on the city beaches. Much to my surprise/pleasure, no public outcry.

 

[Whitebuck]

The Willamette is the perfect example of where seal culls need to happen. Choke point of staged up fish that are literally sitting ducks.

The exact same **** at the mouth of the Vedder, Harrison as well as a few other places in the lower mainland. Would be nice to take out the half dozen that follow the Albion around as well. Same with the ones on the Squamish that go all the way up to the mouth of Chekamus now.

Would be nice to see all the ones in the freshwater of the Fraser and its tribs taken out.


On a side note....isn't this the same group that wanted a wild steelhead kill fishery on the Bulkley and Skeena a decade ago?
Or am I mixed up?

 

[searun]

"On a side note....isn't this the same group that wanted a wild steelhead kill fishery on the Bulkley and Skeena a decade ago?
Or am I mixed up?"

I think that was a few mis-guided folks....not a sentiment that is widely shared.

 

[Powerset]

These PR campaigns take time. We are in a Woke-Me Too-Cancel Culture Environment these days. But, there is a slight glimmer here, the science is finally on our side, that’s new for us, we typically take a beating publicly and we rarely get any credit. When scientists come out and say the protection of seals and sea lions starting back in the early 70’s was necessary and well intentioned but it is a program that produced some unintended consequences, the population has exploded, and these pinnipeds are eating salmon and steelhead to extinction. The numbers don’t lie, the science is on our side. We need to restore the natural balance and this is the necessary step. Conservationists can’t ***** about this. If locusts were eating our grain crops every year we would eradicate them in a blink and nobody would say boo. This is a cute cuddly we’re killing, so we’re bad. Deer? No problem, there’s lots, ducks, geese, turkeys, chickens, no problem. It’s public perception it’s an attitude and with science on our side, this is feasible, FINALLY! Use facts, science, and truth, and this will happen

 

[RalphH]

The Willamette is the perfect example of where seal culls need to happen. Choke point of staged up fish that are literally sitting ducks.

The exact same **** at the mouth of the Vedder, Harrison as well as a few other places in the lower mainland.

There are a falls at the mouth and 4 sets of locks on the Williamette, none at the mouths of the Vedder, Harrison etc. Not exactly an apt comparison.

 

[Whitebuck]

Glad you were able to Google about the Willamette Ralph. Having fished down there for spring Chinook and seeing the carnage the sea lions do , the cull couldn't have come sooner.


If you really want to split hairs Ralph there is almost the same trapping of our salmon/ steelhead at the mouth of a bunch of flows during low water. How many steelhead get taken by the seals at the mouth of Vedder during low water periods in the spring?

So yes there is a comparison.

 

[RalphH]

I have been to the Williamette as well. I have also frequently been to the mouths of both the rivers mentioned and several others in the Fraser Valley. There is no "trapping of steelhead" or other salmonids at those locations. Yeah it's tough pinnipeds eat steelhead and salmon. Yet the Vedder/Chilliwack continually has some of the best returns of steelhead, coho and chinook in the Province. No evidence that seal predation is a problem there. There are in fact no scientific studies that support pinnipeds as the cause of seriously diminshed returns on any stream in the Fraser Valley. A year ago many blamed the drop in returns on the Harrison on the in river FN fishery there. Now they have simply switched the target in their crosshairs.

We don't to my knowledge have a single dam, lock or fishway in the Fraser Valley that delays salmon and makes them more prone to predation.

The current Federal permits for sea lion kill in the Columbia basin is for 540 California Seal Lions and 176 Stellar sea Lions for a total of 716 over the next 5 years. It is aimed at killing animals that habitually kill and eat salmonids and sturgeon in artificially created structures below dams and locks. It's hardly close to the cull of 40,000 or so animals proposed by some for the Salish Sea.

 

[RalphH]

Information on Columbia River sea lion removal by Washington and Oregon

Oregon per: https://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/sealion/

California Sea Lion Removal Summaries 2018-2019


Removals at Willamette Falls conducted/permitted via ODFW MMPA §120 Authorization
Removals at Bonneville Dam conducted/permitted via ODFW, WDFW, IDFG MMPA §120 Authorization

	Individuals Removed​
Month Of​	Willamette Falls​	Bonneville Dam​
December 2018	3 California sea lions ​	N/A ​
January 2019	3 California sea lions​	N/A​
February 2019	3 California sea lions​	N/A​
March 2019	5 California sea lions​	N/A​
April 2019	14 California sea lions​	10 California sea lions​
May 2019	6 California sea lions​	9 California sea lions​
TOTAL REMOVALS 2018-19	33 total​	19 total​

​

Since 2008, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife have staffed a branding and removal program to reduce predation at Bonneville Dam problem California sea lions. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game also began assisting with this program in 2019.


From 2008 to present, a total of 232 California sea lions have been removed from the Columbia River: 15 were placed in permanent captivity, 7 died in accidents incidental to trapping, and the remainder were chemically euthanized.

Washington per: https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-risk/species-recovery/sea-lion-management#mmpa-amendment

In March 2008, Washington, Oregon and Idaho received federal authorization to remove California sea lions observed preying on salmon and steelhead below Bonneville Dam. The federal authorization allows wildlife managers to euthanize sea lions that meet specific criteria, although the states have worked to place those animals in accredited zoos and aquariums whenever possible. Since 2008, state wildlife managers have removed an average of 19 California sea lions a year.

 

[IronNoggin]

What's up Ralphie Ol' Chap?
Things a little slow over at FWR so you decided to expand your horizons again?

Speaking of expanding your horizons...
The number (in print) of removals at and adjacent to the Columbia is actually 2,300 for the past three years.
You're good with Google most days.
Take a shot at it, and if unsuccessful get back to us so I can post a hint for you to follow up on.

Cheers,
Nog

 

[RalphH]

Oh I presented exactly what I wanted to present related to the topic & had no interest in finding data on the number of sea lions killed legally illegally or inadvertently in derelict fishing gear etc.

 

[IronNoggin]

Indeed.

Focus now Ralphie Ol' Chap, FOCUS!

We are talking targeted kills (culls actually down there) and nothing else unrelated.

While I am certain you posted what you wanted to try and slant the discussion the way you would prefer, let's now attempt to deal with reality shall we?

The hint awaits if you can't find what really counts old man...

Cheers,
Nog

 

[RalphH]

I didn't slant anything - I posted what was on the State fish and wildlife management websites. It was straight facts. If you are serious & have a reputable source for that info you would post it rather than bobbing and weaving.