Bloody Seals

[Sprackles]

Following on from a record breeding year of Seals at Donna Nook, there has followed a record year of Seals taking your fish before you get it to the boat.

We were on a nice patch and watching seals pop up with fish in their mouth regularly.

We also connected with a few ourselves but unfortunately the seals decided it was their fish and we landed not a single one.

Pic shows a fish coming up on the line with a seal closing in like a guided torpedo.

This particular fish just made it to the surface before the greedy **** snaffled it on the surface.

Need thinning out.

 

 

[subsonicnat]

They are in their own enviroment,,yes..??..

[Sprackles]

Yep....just like pigeons

[motty]

I think they could do with trimming up.

[Pushandpull]

"Thinning out"...."trimming up".......= killing ?

 

Licences are issued to fish farmers in Scotland, and quite a lot are shot. If you think you have a problem in the North Sea then have a word with Natural England. Then a .270 with AOLQ on an open ticket and you are away. I don't think it's likely though.

 

Incidentally Peter Scott used a .303 I believe.

[sako751sg]

They are in their own enviroment,,yes..??..

 

Just like most wild animals.

 

Not sure of your point really?

[Sprackles]

"Thinning out"...."trimming up".......= killing ?

 

Licences are issued to fish farmers in Scotland, and quite a lot are shot. If you think you have a problem in the North Sea then have a word with Natural England. Then a .270 with AOLQ on an open ticket and you are away. I don't think it's likely though.

 

Incidentally Peter Scott used a .303 I believe.

 

 

Netsmans defence available.

 

On this occasion we had a charter party aboard so not valid, however should we put nets or lines out commercially then the defence is available without any licence needed.

 

Trouble in my area is a whole business has arisen around people going to watch them having pups etc and they could eat the seas empty and people would still defend them.

 

[JDog]

Netsmans defence available.

 

On this occasion we had a charter party aboard so not valid, however should we put nets or lines out commercially then the defence is available without any licence needed.

 

Trouble in my area is a whole business has arisen around people going to watch them having pups etc and they could eat the seas empty and people would still defend them.

 

And when the seals are all gone due to the disappearance of all of the fish who will get the blame?

 

Sensible culling is essential in many places round our coasts but it will never happen.

Edited April 22, 2017 by JDog

[Sprackles]

And when the seals are all gone due to the disappearance of all of the fish who will get the blame?

 

Sensible culling is essential in many places round our coasts but it will never happen.

 

Given the massive expansion of the population over the decades since culling stopped I don't think we are near a position where the fish will run out and especially since North Sea stocks are increasing.

Trouble with stock assessment is no-one takes into account seal consumption, the blame always falls on the fishermen.

Canadian Cod recovery is being hampered by seal predation but international bunny huggers are preventing a meaningful cull.

 

A cull has been mentioned many times but it will be political suicide for any government department that organises it.

[Blackpowder]

It was widely known around these parts that the seal population at decimated fish stocks to such an extent that bull seals were eating newly born pups on the beaches. Conservation gone insane, longt past time for a sensible humane cull.

 

Black[powder

[Stonepark]

I don't think it is the seals that are taking 2.5 million tonnes of fish out the north sea every year....

[Blackpowder]

I don't think it is the seals that are taking 2.5 million tonnes of fish out the north sea every year....

 

Allegedly seals take more cod from British waters than our fishing fleet.

 

Blackpowder

[Stonepark]

If it comes to sea fishing and the start of the sentence starts with something other than it's the humans fault for overfishing and destroying the seas ecosytem by bottom trawling..... Then it's ********.

 

There us about 15000 seals in the north sea, (assum I ng you dont include orkney and shetland where the bulk 88% of the pop us) they will eat 45,000 tonnes of fish and crustaceans a year of many species.

[Sprackles]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32773523

[Stonepark]

From the article.....

 

.....The cod population has been in long-term decline for many years, largely due to fishing.

 

An EU plan to aid recovery of cod stocks placed strict restrictions on the amount of time fishermen can spend at sea as stocks fell to 5% of what they were in 1981 but the researchers are now urging a change in the plan

 

They eat a wide range of fish, but sand eels - a small, thin fish that lives near the sea bed - form the largest part of their diet.

 

Although cod form only around 10% of the total weight of fish eaten by seals, the study suggests this is sufficient to have a significant impact on the stock.

.......

 

 

So fishermen wipe out 95% of the cod stock , and then go on to wipe out other main stocks of other species such as sand eels (seals and sea birds main prey,) and others such as mackerel, the seals switch to eating cod as there is nothing else to eat.... why are they to blame?

[scotslad]

While i'm not about to defend some modern fishing techniques, but it is not just as simple as that.

 

A lot of the serious overfishing will have occurred in relatively recent times, with boats travelling far away from the local areas, no local fisherman is going to willfully over fish his own patch, makes no sense.

 

But it is also naive to think seals won't make a difference to local populations where numbers are locally too high, seals will be far more likely to affect stock for shore fishing than for the commercial boys.

 

Even nowadays with the more random weather patterns and quickier flood patterns, if a large number of migratory fish are stuck in the eustuary/lower reaches a local high population of seals could make a massive dent in populations esp when numbers of salmon/sea trout are already struggling.on most rivers

 

A local river anaged to get a licence to shoot a seal which had made its way 2ish miles upstream to a caul and was having a devasting impact of the migratory fish numbers as was a long dry spell and fish were trapped in 1 big pool, very easy picking for it.And before u blame fisherman that river has been volantry catch and release for decades now with up to 80% of fish returned

 

Really don't know why folk get so protective of some predators but will happily shoot foxes all night long or posion rats without a 2nd thought.

[Sprackles]

From the article.....

 

.....The cod population has been in long-term decline for many years, largely due to fishing.

 

An EU plan to aid recovery of cod stocks placed strict restrictions on the amount of time fishermen can spend at sea as stocks fell to 5% of what they were in 1981 but the researchers are now urging a change in the plan

 

They eat a wide range of fish, but sand eels - a small, thin fish that lives near the sea bed - form the largest part of their diet.

 

Although cod form only around 10% of the total weight of fish eaten by seals, the study suggests this is sufficient to have a significant impact on the stock.

.......

 

 

So fishermen wipe out 95% of the cod stock , and then go on to wipe out other main stocks of other species such as sand eels (seals and sea birds main prey,) and others such as mackerel, the seals switch to eating cod as there is nothing else to eat.... why are they to blame?

 

1981 and they deteriorated after that.

About the same time the CFP gave increased access and quotas to non UK vessels....getting the picture yet ?

[GingerCat]

Sounds like you need to cull the foreign factory ships and other fishing vessels before the seals. 45000 tons of fish and crabs is small fry when you consider what a load of boats will take and then dump.

[Dignity]

Sounds like you need to cull the foreign factory ships and other fishing vessels before the seals. 45000 tons of fish and crabs is small fry when you consider what a load of boats will take and then dump.

Exactly !

[gustaff]

have you ever wildfowled onthe scottish firths seen many salmon and sea trout from grilse size to full size fish just washed up with i bite out of the back of their heads i remember years a go seal cub bashing further north where the waters and ice lands where red with culled seal pups.but dudly dogooder society prevails now they are abigger problem to the fishing community but they make money taking them out in their boats seal watching????

[GingerCat]

More of a problem than factory ships dumping tons of dead fish back into the sea as they can't land it?

 

Didn't think so.

[Sprackles]

More of a problem than factory ships dumping tons of dead fish back into the sea as they can't land it?

 

Didn't think so.

You have heard of the discard ban I take it ?

Please impart to us all your knowledge of factory ships, where they fish, what they catch etc and in particular you proven reliable source of information.

[panoma1]

Is it coincidence that the burgeoning Seal population over recent years seems to correspond with the decline in Salmon and Sea-trout populations?

 

Anglers have had to shoulder most of the restrictions on harvesting Migratory fish....when they are plainly not responsible for the ongoing decline! But I suppose it's easier for those in authority to take the easy option, in order to be seen to be doing something......rather than identify the real cause/causes.....and do something effective about that!

 

Manage the Seal population and bring back the Salmon runs!...........It seems logical and has to be worth a trial?

[GingerCat]

Well let's have a 2 minute google.

 

http://m.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/huge-freezer-factory-vessel-enjoys-successful/story-28883667-detail/story.html

 

That ship landed 470 tons of fish fillets. I suspect it would take a few seals to munch through that lot and it's not going to be the only one is it.

 

This article says that 650000 tons are landed each year by eu vessels that catch more than half of all fish landed in uk waters.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/11/foreign-eu-trawlers-catch-more-than-half-fish-landed-from-britis/amp/

 

And this says that a cull on seals is not supported by the data as their overall impact is insignificant

 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/note/join/2010/438613/IPOL-PECH_NT(2010)438613_EN.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjFh92FsvXTAhVhAsAKHckVAN8QFggkMAQ&usg=AFQjCNHh9_uY8t9IT08sOWGh9vhhrX08Rw

 

As does this

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/uploads/documents/reports/seal-fisheries-interactions.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjFh92FsvXTAhVhAsAKHckVAN8QFggeMAE&usg=AFQjCNHpuwpzYahYq7FhbbagvX1dIJjV3A

 

I'm not a friend of seals but I don't see how clubbing a few to death will revive the fisherman's fortunes in our over fished waters.

[Davyo]

But isn't it the seals environment,not the fisherman's?.Its like our lass clubbing me because I'm eating out of my own fridge!