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[GordJ]

LOL! Not such a good selection to make your point...
Swans are hunted in many jurisdictions, including Canada.
The younger (grey) ones taste just like geese btw... 

Cheers,
Nog

So are seals and sea lions hunted in other jurisdictions, just not here. I was trying to point out that because you can kill one animal it doesn’t mean that you can kill all animals.
I have no problem with a cull if the science supports it but history has more reports of failed culls than successful ones, but I guess good culls just worked and didn’t make the news.

[RalphH]

I may be wrong but I once heard that the Chinese believe the sea lion penis has aphrodisiac value.  If it's true and the cull materialize that'd sure put a damper on the seal and sea lion population eh?

Tried to market the aphrodisiac properties on the east coast but not all that successful.

The east coast seal situation kind of puts the west coast in perspective.

Estimates for the west coast is that harbour seals population is about 100k and relatively stable. Sea Lions  in 10s of thousands.

Harp and Grey seals on the east coast are estimated in the millions.

Doubtful much of a market based harvest can be sustained here just based on numbers. Given the problems faced by the east coast harvest in finding markets the prospect for the West Coast has to be much more pessimistic.

BTW Knn, the studies so far are all circumstantial and limited in scope. There are many variables not explored in any sort of detail and estimates seals eat 40% plus of juvenile chinook is based on speculation and mathematical extrapolation. There is a
good likelihood that figure is overestimated though specific local impacts appear in that range.

[armytruck]

You may have already seen this clip
https://globalnews.ca/news/4344527/new-group-seal-sea-lion-cull-bc-coast/

[Fatso]

Yes Armytruck, that link is in the OP.
But thanks just the same.

Btw.... may i take your order for a lovely sea lion slider? 

[armytruck]

 

[Knnn]

In the absence of any hard evidence that supports the speculation that there has been a substantial increase in seal  numbers and that the increased numbers have had any measurable impact on salmon returns, what is the the next step? 

1) Open season blood bath and see what happens;
2) Limited/selective cull based on controlling/reducing numbers, species and/or locations;
3) More studies to determine if seal numbers are exploding and there is in fact evidence to support an adverse cause and effect and to identify if a selective cull or full metal jacket blood bath cull would work;
4) Do nothing, because they look sad.

[RalphH]

I have a few interesting questions myself:

1) do you believe that if seal numbers had stayed the same, that chinook and coho returns in the Squamish and other major river system would be about the same as they were in 1970?

2) that someone will offer to shoot and remove 10,000 , 20,000 or more seals plus  recover, remove and process the carcasses for free?

3) seals are the single cause of salmon decline on the Pacific Northwest Coast?

4) That every person with a single reason among dozens for 'explaining' the progressive collapse of salmon stocks on the south coast...you know it was the herring collapse, it was clear cut logging, it was high seas drift net fishing, it was the Alaskans, it was the commies, it was the native fishery, yada yada.. has suddenly discovered it was the seals and this has nothing to do with the fact they always wanted to 'cull' (slaughter) all the seals anyway?

5) that it is always the seals, otherwise we'd be up to our asses in salmon like great grandad was in 1900?

6) try to get that kid at UBC to correlate population growth in southern BC with salmon numbers. When we see the p value do we support a cull for humans?

...all makes about as much sense to me...

go for it dudes!

[Old Blue]

In the absence of any hard evidence that supports the speculation that there has been a substantial increase in seal  numbers and that the increased numbers have had any measurable impact on salmon returns, what is the the next step? 

1) Open season blood bath and see what happens;
2) Limited/selective cull based on controlling/reducing numbers, species and/or locations;
3) More studies to determine if seal numbers are exploding and there is in fact evidence to support an adverse cause and effect and to identify if a selective cull or full metal jacket blood bath cull would work;
4) Do nothing, because they look sad.

Have you been fishing in the salt or near any tributary within a few km's of the fraser the past few years?  I have only been in Vancouver for 10 years and 9 of those fishing both salt and fresh and it's absolutely shocking the difference in populations.  In 5 years straight of fishing the west side of the island I've seen a definite increase but not the same level as the LML.

[skaha]

--haven't seen anyone saying that seal's and sea lion's are the Only Problems. The selective harvest or cull suggested is for specific areas of concern.
--one would expect data to monitor the effect and either accept the results or modify the treatment if necessary.
--there are many people starving in the world so should not be an issue with finding someone or some other domesticated food critter to eat the stuff...kinda ironic if it was turned into fish food.

[Hike_and_fish]

Would hurt to try it out. Except if you're a seal.

[jessestmars]

If you're looking for research on Seals impact on juvenile Salmon populations, you MUST see this video presentation outlining the research by PhD Austen Thomas. Pretty cool how they tracked how many smolts the Seals were eating.

Presentation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGbAKtTejH0

If you're looking for research in regards to the increase in harbour seal populations here's an interesting article from a few years ago:
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/seals+blamed+drop+juvenile+salmon+stocks+strait+georgia+study/11673383/story.html

Article Snippet:
"The population of harbour seals has grown steadily with federal protection, from fewer than 5,000 in 1970 to about 40,000 in 2008 in the Strait of Georgia — a period that corresponds with marked declines in coho and chinook."

I'd be very curious to see the 2018 stats on harbour seal populations.