quote:Originally posted by powder
Magician, I have been working with DFO and first Nations in the areas I was talking about and you are very miss informed. Not only have I been underwater and participated in surveys, transects in Winter Harbour, south to Tofino, I have first hand info. From locals, natives, scientists, and shellfish industry. You are just popping off,no first hand knowledge, or understanding, but thats okay. You were talking seal, not otter. If you like your dungys, geoducks, urchins, any shellfish, there is a huge problem. As these animals were reintoduced...with no predators such as man, they are flourishing way above historical nos. in the areas I mentioned.
My point with the seals was it is easy to leave a post with name attached saying open season on seals and I thought it was just lame cause there is no thought behind it. I am not disagreeing seals need to be kept in check, just wondering how you were going to do it in a populated area thats all.I hope you take some time and talk to the guides and locals in Winter harbour, Quatsino and get some knowledge and get youself informed about the sea otter.
In a populated area---easy...licensed seal hunters shooting them works just great.........no problem there....and where I took a couple of Oceanography courses--those profs/scientists has no qualms about suggesting massive seal culls to restore ecosystems to their natural balance. As for Sea Otters---they had nothing but entirely complementary things to say about the furry critters as did the research I read---and just because they eat shellfish and put a few people out of a job doesn't mean
We're up to about 4000 sea otters now, and they are still endangered and an 'at risk' species. One nasty oil spill and we're going back in time a couple of decades.
I'm up on my history Powder---and the sea otters were taken out as a result of the hunting by white man and not the natives.
Commercial Aquaculture can shove it up their A$$ as far as I'm concerned..because they've had it WAY too good. Back then, aquaculture didn't exist in farms---it was harvested from natural stock.
I've had my fair share of first hand knowledge about commercial aquaculture Powder--and believe me---I've seen firsthand the devastation caused by Oyster farms, leases, etc etc etc. There's 2 sides to the story---commercial aquaculture, and natural production. Salmon farming as it is currently done in BC is so counter productive to natural ecosystems it's insane! As for urchin divers---you may lose some work--regretable---but a necessary evil...etc etc etc...the fact is..the amount of $$$ these industries is irrelevant---it's the number of people employed and making coin that is important. I'd love to show you a bunch of Oyster farmers that are multi-millionaires from Shellfish farming---and who do they employ? Slave labourers for minimum wage. It's at the point now that private citizens are taking out huge leases to protect the resource and environment in it's natural state---and I'm included in that.
The only people that kept sea otters in check were the Natives way back when---and the state of the ecosystem was much more in balance. The fur traders and explorers came along and killed Sea Otters for their pelts to extinction--not because of preserving Aquaculture..and back then Sea Otters numbered in the tens and hundreds of thousands.
DFO are the perennial screw ups when it comes to conservation of stocks on this coast---and Loyola Hearn as a matter of fact, just wrote to me and told me that Chinook Stocks are as plentiful as 1950. That's the biggest lie I've ever heard. If that's the case, that explains why we now need downriggers on any given day over the coast to catch a legal fish---and there are no inside Coho to be found.
At any rate Powder--I'm not misinformed about the issues surrounding Sea Otters--maybe it's those people saying Sea Otters are the issue that should check their facts about the ultimate purpose and role a healthy Otter population plays in a naturally changing ecosystem. If it means that the price of clam chowder, Oysters Rockefeller, and Sushi is going up--then so be it--I'll pay more. If it means that a few dozen aquaculture employees need find something else to do, then so be it---everyone's days are numbered---including you, me, and everyone else.
Check out this website...1900 people employed by shellfish aquaculture in BC eh? That's fewer than GM and/or Ford are going to lay off in Canada.
http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/fish_stats/statistics.htm
One of the biggest problems with DFO is that it faced with a complex mandate that is fundamentally at odds with itself---to promote conservation, yet promote aquaculture and sustainability, and commercial interests are often at odds with the greater and moral good. Throw in the political motivations and causes clouding and shrouding the issues and we're in a constant downward spiral--regardless of what statistics anyone has to the contrary. Statistics are an interesting thing---they can serve whatever purpose they are designed to serve.
, disrespectful 
