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I’m not a marine biologist nor a fisherman; I’m a person who is a bit skeptical about blaming one species for the decline of another species, especially when the top predators are going after the same food source while one is making a living on it. When the top predator (humans) species make a living on the food source they do not like competition. Competition can be from other fishers, sport or commercial; it could be killer whales, or seals, and over the years Killer whales and Seals have been killed by fisherman, fishing boats have been used as weapons to run into killer whales, and guns to shoot seals. Seals are often intentionally killed by fishermen who erroneously believe they are responsible for reduced fish stocks caused by overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction.
To blame the seals and seal lions for the loose of the fishing industry on the coast of BC, is a lame attempt at the real problems. Over the last 50 years we have seen a steady loss in fish stocks due to overfishing, the loss of habitat due to logging, and pollution is also part of the problem and more importantly the real reason salmon stocks are on the decline. Other factors could be the warming of the oceans,
The simple fact is, stocks are in wide decline because we have been killing far too many salmon for far too long. In 1913, the year of the last great run in the Fraser, an estimated 38 million sockeye returned. But 32 million of those fish were killed and put in cans. Four years later, when the run crashed to just eight million sockeye, the government allowed a catch of more than 7.3 million fish.
Since then the government has typically allowed 40 to 70 per cent of any given run to be taken in nets.
Not only has overfishing hurt the environment, but it has also brought the commercial fleet to its knees and left native villages impoverished.
Let’s look at some statistics, seal populations are at an extreme high and salmon are at an extreme low and on the verge of collapsing. If seals and sea lions main food diet consisted of salmon stocks, we should see a decline in the seals and sea lions population or unless they are on the verge of a collapse. More likely is that their diet is much more varied than we once thought and salmon only plays a small part in the diet of seals and sea lions.
Our oceans are a complex ecosystem one that we are just starting to understand.
When one species of animal dies especially when that species is a key species it has domino effect on other species in the ecosystem. We will see the decline of the coastal grizzly whose diet is made up of spawning salmon. Grizzly bears are starving on some rivers already. Killer whales are abandoning coastal regions because of a lack of Chinook.
There is hope, not all fisherman blame the decline of fish stocks on the seals and seal lions, and with the government intervention like in the States, there is no commercial fisheries this year in California, Oregon and Washington. BC and Alaska should be next.
That means ending the commercial fishery at sea. Shut it down and get government emergency funding to assist fishermen in the way forest workers are being helped through the pine-beetle infestation.
In rivers, only live traps should be used, such as beach seines, weirs and fish wheels, so that wild fish can be released while surplus hatchery stocks are retained.
All sports fishing should be restricted to catch-and-release.
Stop the commercial sale of salmon by native communities.
Only then should we see the return of millions of salmon to the river systems. With out tough measures, salmon won’t survive and with a key species gone we will see the decline in other species like coastal grizzly bears and killer whales.
Here is a great write up on the Fraser river.
