30,000 seals

[Piscator]

Not a tree hugger or one who says you should never keep a fish. I’m probably going to get bashed for this but it’s just a thought so go easy on me………….


I know this thread is specific to Striped Bass but overall who is hurting the oceans more? I agree these seals must have a negative impact on Bass and other fish but is it seals or humans who do more overall damage? How many seals were in that area before the Pilgrims arrived (I’m not sure, maybe there weren’t any?) Maybe this is a problem that has never been seen before.

We are quick to point a finger at the seals but we should also point a finger at ourselves. We as humans dump more sewerage and trash and probably take more from the ocean than any single species. I read that over 80,000,000 pounds of herring have been netted this year on Georges Bank, how can that not be devastation. That’s a lot of bait and it has to definitely mess up the whole food chain. Who knows, maybe with more seals there will be more sharks. Mako’s & Greta Whites might become more abundant in the area and feed on the seals balancing everything out (not saying it’s a good thing). Then again, maybe they wouldn’t.

I don’t know. Just a random thought as I sit here trying to work on a rainy Friday afternoon…………………

What do you guys think? Is it 100% the seals fault?

[piemma]

Is it 100% the seals fault?[/QUOTE]

No not 100%. 90% would be an accurate number. Fished the Back from the 70s to 2003. No seal/fish problem till around 2000. Now the greatest Striped Bass fishery in the world has been destroyed.

[LINESIDES]

I would like to think I could speak to the late fifties through sixties.
I saw one in late fifties. Everyone thought he must have been blown off course from the Arctic!
You just did not see them.
If I remember correctly, they started showing up only in the fall and winter in the mid to early 90ties.
Please keep the focus on the seals.
Even then it was only a few. That when they were cute!
Now we have a problem on our hands.
Yes, it is a man made problem,
WE LET THEM GET OUT OF CONTROL!
Like all successful management programs, they need to be controlled.
Instead of the sportsmen paying up, let the folks that think they are cute pay the tab this time!
L.