Too Many Seals

[RIROCKHOUND]

[QUOTE=likwid;589746]

Your father a biologist?
http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/...-seal/diet.htm

Adult harbor seals eat 5% to 6% of their body weight per day, about 4.5 to 8.2 kg (10-18 lb.).
QUOTE]

That was a crappy way to answer. Are you a biologist?
regardless, almost 20lb/day x an est. 6,000 seals is still a lot of fish consumed.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

That was a crappy way to answer. Are you a biologist?
regardless, almost 20lb/day x an est. 6,000 seals is still a lot of fish consumed.

Sure but everyone relying on information from the past would tell us we need to kill all the sharks, seals, and anything else that might look funny at what we want.

Also there's no problems with the Cod stock either.

And cigarettes don't give you cancer.
Make sure to use DDT on everything.
Seatbelts don't save lives.
Cocaine is good for you.

[fishbones]

Likwid, you seem to have done some research on this. Some people are concerned about the seals eating the bass and blues and decreasing the fish population that way. In reality, the seals are eating the same food as the gamefish. They feed on menhaden, alewives, herring, and mackerel along with other bait fish and squid, clams and crustaceans. The competition for food is what is driving the fish away, mostly offshore. The stripers and blues being picked off of someone's line are only taken because they are easy prey for the seals. And fishermen do spend money on the cape. Stop into a 24 hour Dunkin Donuts or c-store in the middle of the night. Check out the parking lots of motels and look for trucks with trailers. Look at the boats on trailers being filled up at gas stations all over the cape. Now, I know that tourism is always going to be #1 on the cape. But, if fishermen chose to band together and use their combined voice about this and other issues (better discussed in other threads), they would at least raise awareness. As for the west coast, the inshore fishing has gotten worse over the years. Maybe it's because the seals have eaten a lot of the bait. Then, the seals move on because they are looking for food. Seals have a very large range and can travel far. They stop and take up residence where food is plentiful. Until they decimate the bait stocks around here, we will not see them going anywhere.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by fishbones

They feed on menhaden, alewives, herring, and mackerel along with other bait fish and squid, clams and crustaceans.

Which we've (as a WHOLE not just any one group) already done a FANTASTIC job of decimating.

And the cycle continues.

But, if fishermen chose to band together and use their combined voice about this and other issues (better discussed in other threads), they would at least raise awareness.

You know, it would work better if people could pull their collective heads out of their as!@#!@# and work together on this than relying on just one group.
These issues don't just affect fishermen.
The growing population of seals (among the other issues) affects pretty much everyone who goes anywhere near a beach.

[fishbones]

[QUOTE=likwid;589762]Which we've (as a WHOLE not just any one group) already done a FANTASTIC job of decimating.

Since this thread was about seals, I was making my point about what the seals are eating. They eat the same food as the fish we are trying to catch. As the seal population increases, the baitfish stocks will decrease. Then, the seals will move on to other areas where they can find abundant food. That will leave the stripers and blues with a lot less food and they will move on also.

I think everyone on this site is aware of what humans have done to the baitfish stocks in New England. When herring were almost gone, they put a ban on taking herring. They have also put limits on the taking of some gamefish that have become overfished.

So, the government can take action to try to fix problems of overfishing by humans. Unfortunatley, there is no regulation of the seals taking baitfish.

[likwid]

Originally Posted by fishbones

So, the government can take action to try to fix problems of overfishing by humans. Unfortunatley, there is no regulation of the seals taking baitfish.

I'd put money on Omega Protein taking more menhaden than the entire MA seal population eats in a year.

[Rappin Mikey]

One last thing, 5%-6% of a 990lb animal is much closer to 50# then 18#.

[Slipknot]

http://www.greyseal.net/ABOUT/history.htm

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by likwid

I'd put money on Omega Protein taking more menhaden than the entire MA seal population eats in a year.

Maybe someone can start shooting them.

[Slipknot]

no likwid, 6000 is probably not an accurate count I agree, I don't think 10000 is right either

count these in this picture and do the math

I bet there are more