[NatureNS] re foods of culled seals? -- was Seal Cull

From: David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>
To: NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca
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Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:21:26 -0300
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Hi All,                    Oct 10, 2011
    Some 5-10 years ago there was a TV program (CBC or ATV) discussing effects of seal activities on fisheries somewhere in Nfld. The seals in question tended to eat only guts and, e.g. many fish caught in gill nets were being de-gutted by seals and such damaged fish had to be discarded. In addition nets (don't recall what kind) were frequently damaged by seal feeding. 

    Perhaps someone can refresh the screen. Have I got it straight ? Is gut feeding general ? etc.
Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Richard Stern 
  To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca 
  Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 4:12 PM
  Subject: Re: [NatureNS] re foods of culled seals? -- was Seal Cull


  Hi,

  With all the scientific observations, and data that has been collected, on seals in recent years, by those who are both in favor of, and opposed to, a seal cull, surely somewhere there must be a detailed analysis of the contents of adult seals' stomachs? And surely there's someone on NatureNS who knows this info?
  For what it's worth, here's what seems to be a valid reference I found by googling --

  The single biggest island-breeding colony is on Sable Island (85,000, increasing at almost 12% per annum). Other major sites in the western Atlantic are in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (69,000).  (and from Wikipedia ----- The grey seal feeds on a wide variety of fish, mostly benthic or demersal species, taken at depths down to 70 m (230 ft) or more. Sand eels (Ammodytes spp) are important in its diet in many localities. Cod and other gadids, flatfish, herring  and skates are also important locally. However, it is clear that the grey seal will eat whatever is available, including octopus and lobsters. The average daily food requirement is estimated to be 5 kg (11 lb), though the seal does not feed every day and it fasts during the breeding season.

  Doing the math, therefore, it would seem that the Sable Island population alone would eat up to 425,000 Kg of fish per annum - considerable competition for Homo sapiens.

  Richard




  On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 3:31 PM, James W. Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> wrote:

    Jeannie, I stand to be corrected, but I think a very large proportion of the "harvested" seals in recent years has been young pups only several weeks old and a bit post-weaning, and therefore would have no solid food yet in their guts.  But if any cull that goes on consists of older seals that are shot, then it might make sense to sample their stomachs for foods consumed.   


    Cheers from Jim in Wolfville.  



    Begin forwarded message:


      From: jeannies@ns.sympatico.ca
      Date: October 10, 2011 10:26:54 AM ADT
      To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
      Cc: Gary Myers <gemyers@eastlink.ca>
      Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Seal Cull
      Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca


      With all the seal slaughtering that's going on...did not ONE person think to open one up and see what type of fish they're consuming???
      Jeannie Shermerhorn






      ---- Gary Myers <gemyers@eastlink.ca> wrote: 
        The announcement that Fisheries and Oceans was proposing a 70,000 animal cull as an experiment followed by a further 70,000 experimentation kill the following year was made Sep 15 this year.  Co-incidentally that date was the 40th anniversary of the founding of Greenpeace and CBC carried the two stories consecutively all day.  My first reaction was to check to see if that was international prank day or some such.  Surely someone needs to give their head a god shake.  Gary Myers Morden NS





  -- 
  #################
  Richard Stern, 
  Port Williams, NS, Canada
  sternrichard@gmail.com
  ###################

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<DIV><FONT size=2>Hi All,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Oct 10, 
2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Some 5-10 years ago there was a TV program 
(CBC or ATV) discussing effects of seal activities on fisheries somewhere in 
Nfld. The seals in question tended to eat only guts and, e.g. many fish caught 
in gill nets were being de-gutted by seals and&nbsp;such damaged&nbsp;fish had 
to be discarded. In addition nets (don't recall what kind) were frequently 
damaged by seal feeding. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Perhaps someone can refresh the screen. 
Have I got it straight ? Is gut feeding general ? etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE 
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" 
dir=ltr>
  <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
  <DIV 
  style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> 
  <A title=sternrichard@gmail.com href="mailto:sternrichard@gmail.com">Richard 
  Stern</A> </DIV>
  <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=naturens@chebucto.ns.ca 
  href="mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</A> </DIV>
  <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, October 10, 2011 4:12 
  PM</DIV>
  <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [NatureNS] re foods of 
  culled seals? -- was Seal Cull</DIV>
  <DIV><BR></DIV>Hi,<BR><BR>With all the scientific observations, and data that 
  has been collected, on seals in recent years, by those who are both in favor 
  of, and opposed to, a seal cull, surely somewhere there must be a detailed 
  analysis of the contents of adult seals' stomachs? And surely there's someone 
  on NatureNS who knows this info?<BR>For what it's worth, here's what seems to 
  be a valid reference I found by googling --<BR><BR>The single biggest 
  island-breeding colony is on Sable Island (85,000, increasing at almost 12% 
  per annum). Other major sites in the western Atlantic are in the Gulf of St. 
  Lawrence (69,000).&nbsp; (and from Wikipedia ----- The grey seal feeds on a 
  wide variety of <A title=Fish 
  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish">fish</A>, mostly <A class=mw-redirect 
  title=Benthic href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benthic">benthic</A> or <A 
  class=mw-redirect title=Demersal 
  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demersal">demersal</A> species, taken at 
  depths down to 70&nbsp;m (230&nbsp;ft) or more. <A title="Sand eel" 
  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_eel">Sand eels</A> (<I>Ammodytes 
  spp</I>) are important in its diet in many localities. <A title=Cod 
  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod">Cod</A> and other <A title=Gadidae 
  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadidae">gadids</A>, <A title=Flatfish 
  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatfish">flatfish</A>, <A title=Herring 
  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herring">herring</A><SUP>&nbsp;</SUP><SUP> 
  </SUP>and skates 
  are also important locally. However, it is clear that the grey seal will eat 
  whatever is available, including <A title=Octopus 
  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus">octopus</A> and <A title=Lobster 
  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobster">lobsters</A>. The average daily 
  food requirement is estimated to be 5&nbsp;kg (11&nbsp;lb), though the seal 
  does not feed every day and it fasts during the breeding season.<BR><BR>Doing 
  the math, therefore, it would seem that the Sable Island population alone 
  would eat up to 425,000 Kg of fish per annum - considerable competition for 
  Homo sapiens.<BR><BR>Richard<BR><BR><BR><BR>
  <DIV class=gmail_quote>On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 3:31 PM, James W. Wolford <SPAN 
  dir=ltr>&lt;<A 
  href="mailto:jimwolford@eastlink.ca">jimwolford@eastlink.ca</A>&gt;</SPAN> 
  wrote:<BR>
  <BLOCKQUOTE 
  style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" 
  class=gmail_quote>
    <DIV style="WORD-WRAP: break-word">Jeannie, I stand to be corrected, but I 
    think a very large proportion of the "harvested" seals in recent years has 
    been young pups only several weeks old and a bit post-weaning, and therefore 
    would have no solid food yet in their guts. &nbsp;But if any cull that goes 
    on consists of older seals that are shot, then it might make sense to sample 
    their stomachs for foods consumed. &nbsp; 
    <DIV><BR></DIV>
    <DIV>Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. &nbsp;<BR>
    <DIV><BR>
    <DIV>Begin forwarded message:</DIV><BR>
    <BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT 
      style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000" color=#000000 size=3 
      face=Helvetica><B>From: </B></FONT><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" 
      size=3 face=Helvetica><A href="mailto:jeannies@ns.sympatico.ca" 
      target=_blank>jeannies@ns.sympatico.ca</A></FONT></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT 
      style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000" color=#000000 size=3 
      face=Helvetica><B>Date: </B></FONT><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" 
      size=3 face=Helvetica>October 10, 2011 10:26:54 AM ADT</FONT></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT 
      style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000" color=#000000 size=3 
      face=Helvetica><B>To: </B></FONT><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" size=3 
      face=Helvetica><A href="mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" 
      target=_blank>naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</A></FONT></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT 
      style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000" color=#000000 size=3 
      face=Helvetica><B>Cc: </B></FONT><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" size=3 
      face=Helvetica>Gary Myers &lt;<A href="mailto:gemyers@eastlink.ca" 
      target=_blank>gemyers@eastlink.ca</A>&gt;</FONT></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT 
      style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000" color=#000000 size=3 
      face=Helvetica><B>Subject: </B></FONT><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" 
      size=3 face=Helvetica><B>Re: [NatureNS] Seal Cull</B></FONT></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT 
      style="FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: #000000" color=#000000 size=3 
      face=Helvetica><B>Reply-To: </B></FONT><FONT style="FONT: 12px Helvetica" 
      size=3 face=Helvetica><A href="mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" 
      target=_blank>naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</A></FONT></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px; MIN-HEIGHT: 14px"><BR></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">With all the seal slaughtering that's going 
      on...did not ONE person think to open one up and see what type of fish 
      they're consuming???</DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Jeannie Shermerhorn</DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px; MIN-HEIGHT: 14px"><BR></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px; MIN-HEIGHT: 14px"><BR></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px; MIN-HEIGHT: 14px"><BR></DIV>
      <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">---- Gary Myers &lt;<A 
      href="mailto:gemyers@eastlink.ca" 
      target=_blank>gemyers@eastlink.ca</A>&gt; wrote:<SPAN>&nbsp;</SPAN></DIV>
      <BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">
        <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">The announcement that Fisheries and Oceans was 
        proposing a 70,000 animal cull as an experiment followed by a further 
        70,000 experimentation kill the following year was made Sep 15 this 
        year.<SPAN>&nbsp; </SPAN>Co-incidentally that date was the 40th 
        anniversary of the founding of Greenpeace and CBC carried the two 
        stories consecutively all day.<SPAN>&nbsp; </SPAN>My first reaction was 
        to check to see if that was international prank day or some 
        such.<SPAN>&nbsp; </SPAN>Surely someone needs to give their head a god 
        shake.<SPAN>&nbsp; </SPAN>Gary Myers Morden 
    NS</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><BR 
  clear=all><BR>-- <BR>#################<BR>Richard Stern, <BR>Port Williams, 
  NS, Canada<BR><A href="mailto:sternrichard@gmail.com" 
  target=_blank>sternrichard@gmail.com</A><BR>###################<BR>
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