Biologist wants to know if seals prevent recovery of groundf

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Biologist wants to know if seals prevent recovery of groundfish stocks

Steve Wadden - Cape Breton Post
This fully molted seal was photographed on Hay Island before the hunt got underway on Thursday.
Published on February 25, 2011


Nancy King SYDNEY — A Cape Breton biologist says it’s time for a large-scale experimental harvest of grey seals to determine whether they are playing a role in preventing the recovery of groundfish stocks.

Topics : Cape Breton University , Bras d’Or Institute , Hay Island , Southern Gulf , Cape Breton
Bruce Hatcher, chair in marine ecosystem research with Cape Breton University’s Bras d’Or Institute, said the grey seal population, which has been reported to be upwards of 300,000, is as high as it’s been in recorded history.

He said this season’s quota of 1,900 animals for the Hay Island seal hunt was “a small fraction” of what would be an ecologically sustainable harvest.

DFO sealing spokesperson Andrew Newbould said sealer Robert Courtney reported that about 100 of the mammals were harvested when sealers took to the island Thursday.

“At a recent meeting of more than 60 scientists, it was considered that on the order of 70,000 grey seals could be removed in the southern Gulf as part of an experiment to determine whether, as the evidence suggests, that grey seal predation has prevented the recovery of groundfish stocks in the region,” he said.

Hatcher said there is agreement among scientists that it’s time to undertake a definitive experiment to determine whether seals preying on groundfish has been a significant factor in preventing their recovery since fisheries were reduced or closed almost 20 years ago.

“We’re talking not just about the removal of pups but adult animals, which weigh hundreds of kilograms, so it would be a very substantial amount of biomass that would be removed,” he said.

The relatively small number of seals taken this season doesn’t reflect on the health of the species, Newbould said, noting it’s the sealers who decide how many to harvest. Weather also prevented sealers from making their way to Hay Island until late in the season.

“The seals mature and start heading back to water, so all indications are from a population level, that grey seals are doing very well,” Newbould said.

Recent information within the department indicates the grey seal population could be approaching 350,000, he said.

The quota is reviewed every year and the number of seals harvested in the previous season is one of the factors taken into consideration, Newbould said.

“We’re talking not just about the removal of pups but adult animals, which weigh hundreds of kilograms, so it would be a very substantial amount of biomass that would be removed.” - Bruce Hatcher
Hatcher said he was sorry to hear so few seals were harvested. It was an important year for the Hay Island hunt after it didn’t go ahead in 2010, which he called a low in the attempt to rejuvenate Cape Breton’s sealing industry.

Fisheries Minister Gail Shea recently visited China to discuss opening that market to seal products. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are also continuing to invest in new products and markets, Hatcher noted. Products could not just include pelts and meat, but would also involve making use of bones, blubber, oil and heart valves.

“All of those things and probably some other things that we have to speak to aboriginal people who hunted these animals for many generations to advise us about what can you do with seals that shows respect for the animal and makes as full use as is possible of all of the parts of the animal when you go and hunt them,” Hatcher said.

If the industry is going to develop, it needs to move away from a single targeted hunt, he said.

Newbould said grey seals tend to return to the same rookery, or breeding colony, where they were born or gave birth previously, although there have been situations where the entire rookery has moved elsewhere.

Hatcher said seals are highly adaptable to changes in their environment and there’s evidence in variability in behaviour from seal to seal. If seals were to come find Hay Island an in hospitable place to be because of the hunt they could move elsewhere. He noted they are able to thrive in what can often be challenging conditions.

“Imagine the kind of animal you have to be to not only survive that but be wildly successful, to have had your population go from 30,000 to 300,000 animals in a few tens of years,” he said.

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