Not so cuddly seals

[sako751sg]

you presume right Sako, i do shoot , and i have no problem with actually culling a few seals.. and as you rightly say, i do have my morals....as others have theirs and which i respect..(if legal)

but as shooters, anglers, or hunters we sometimes make our selves look greedy and narrow minded, this is not an attack on Sparkles, but a sit on the fence reply to the OP, its called healthy debate.

in the OP , Sparkles pointed out that his mate had lost a days wage through seals nicking and eating the fish.... In a couple of words..thats tough luck, no matter how many seals you cull, they will still take from the nets.. (Nets are a thing i hate , just a personal view```)

my point was.... we are a greedy race.... and a race that is growing, we seem to have lost respect for all other things in the name of the £ so !! we demand culling...

as with fox's and other things we now call Vermin... we as a race have spread out more.. we need more land and more food....

 

as i have said, its not the controlling of numbers , but the way the argument is made, and we do need to think, on how not to destroy everything.. as i said earlier, once its gone , its gone for ever

 

a few years ago i was taken for £10K , should i of asked for builders to be culled... of course not, that would be silly

Thats a good answer,and im glad you agree with me that seals as with other species need culled.I agree greed has taken over,but that covers everything that affects us humans from rats to seals.However,we differ on our culling philosophy.If I get a call from a farmer on crop damage or hes lost lambs to a fox the furthest thing to come into my mind,or out my mouth is "that's tough luck".If it was,i would be reduced to very little shooting ground.

I would like an answer from someone that disagrees with a culling of seals because they eat fish,shock,horror,but yet freely cull other species such as corvids,etc,that eat crops,shock,horror.I don't agree with the because we eat them argument either,as in this day and age no one needs to kill to eat.

Edited September 27, 2013 by sako751sg

[jasper3]

I guess i look at it from another point too Sako.. as you may of guessed from other threads, i am just buying a smallholding, we couldn't get the one we wanted , simply because of price, so we settled for something a little smaller and to be honest, something i can afford to fence correctly within my budget

the fencing and making safe for the animals i will keep will be paramount, I too don't want to loose any animals to fox's badgers, buzzards etc etc but no doubt, i will loose the odd one,

but i never ever don't want to see a fox or rabbit ..its a balance,,, i will do my best to protect my stock and if i do loose the odd one or two, it will be down to some tough luck

 

good post mate

 

jasp

[wymberley]

 

The size limit only applies to wild caught fish and at the legal minimum landing size, they are too big for a single whole fish portion.

The fish you see in supermarkets and on restaurant plates are farmed bass from the Mediterranean.

Perhaps you may not realise but buyers now also have to registered to trade in Sea Fish and penalties for buying undersized,undeclared fish are huge.

The regulations involved in the fish game are horrendous and the pitfalls many, the average man in the street has no idea whatsoever of the hurdles fishermen have to go through just so they can have a fish and chip supper.

Exmouth born and bred so grew up with fisher folk and have a fair idea of what's what.

 

It's not always sweetness and light and legitimate. Once watched the Fisheries Protection Vessel 'Drumbeat' drop off the RIB out of sight behind the headland and then steam towards the fishing fleet. One trawler broke off and ran for home straight into the arms of the waiting RIB. Guilty as charged and heavily fined for an undersized catch.

 

I would imagine any restaurant that has Mediterranean farmed bass on the menu when they are described as fresh locally caught as most of them proudly boast also has a 'catch' of their own - the customer!

 

Also note that you didn't comment on the ongoing survival chances of the species should they continue to be 'harvested' before they've had chance to breed

Edited September 27, 2013 by wymberley

[Sprackles]

Heres an update.....NaturalEngland have confirmed they are aware of the Netsmans Defence......currently discussing his options with the fisheries office.
MMO have confirmed he can shoot them.

 

Currently the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 (CSA) allows anyone with a high velocity rifle and an endorsement on their firearms certificate to shoot seals for the majority of the year. The CSA does limit the shooting of seals during their moulting and breeding periods (June 1 - August 31 for Common seals and September 1 -December 31 for Grey seals). However, shooting is still permitted either with a licence from the Scottish Executive or using the ‘netsman’s defence’ that allows seals in the vicinity of fishing gear to be shot [3]. Apart from shooting under licence there is no requirement to report the number or species of animals shot.

Edited September 28, 2013 by Sprackles

[Sprackles]

And on a lighter note,having disposed of the problem...what to do with it......

These delicious crepes are sweet enough to be a dessert after any hearty meal but savory enough to be the main portion.

Filling:

1 pound freshly clubbed baby seal (or use Speal, spiced seal substitute)

4 pounds cheese

1 recipe crepes batter

1 cup soft butter

zest of one orange

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup Cognac

Make the crepes batter and prepare the crepes as directed, if cooking over an open fire on the frozen tundra substitute seal blubber for butter. Using steel tipped club cream butter with zest, juices, sugar, and high proof Whiskey to make a creamy mixture. Smear the top of each crepe with the butter mixture and fold one, then twice to make a seal skull. Melt the remaining butter mixture in an oval crepe pan or other heavy-bottomed skillet.

Arrange the crepes over the blubber and sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon sugar. Heat to melting and ladle the sauce over the crepes until the flame dies. Cover with cheese and diced seal. Serve. Now that’s good seal.

This recipe was sent to me by a canadian seal clubbing friend (of french origin, I must admit) but it sure is tasty