EU bans Seal Products from Canada

[L Gilbert]

Whatever.
Anyway, as far as slaughtering anything goes, I think it's fine if they critters that we mass-slaughter are farmed. But mass-slaughtering wild species has never been a good idea as far as nature goes. It just upsets natural balances.
My favorite story is the one about Colorado getting rid of all its wolves waaaay back. After a while they found a few species of trees were dying off in their forests. In a nutshell, what was happening is that the elk that wolves preyed on were so numerous that they were clipping off any new tree shoots of a few species of tree so there were no new trees growing. And that in turn affected a few other creatures that normally use those trees for food, shelter, and whatnot. Hmans tend to be extremely short-sighted when it comes to nature.

 

[Johnnny]

Heres what we should do... Build more refineries in Canada and get our nickel ore refined in Canada instead of western europe (britian)

That way all the people who lost there jobs because of Europes Ego could work on refining our ore that would normally be sent to europe to be refined..

 

[mt_pockets1000]

Similar to how we mass slaughtered the cod fish LG. The exploding seal population will still put sustained pressure on the remaining cod stocks and will bring additional pressure to bear on other fish species as well.

 

[L Gilbert]

Exactly, Pockets. Our gov'ts (no blame going to any particular gov't as they ALL are guilty) has drastically mismanaged fisheries.

 

[Colpy]

Yep, them EU boys are brilliant.....as are the foes of the seal hunt.

Read today in the local paper about plans emerging for a cull of seals......so instead of shooting them and using the furs and some of the meat, we shoot them and leave them to rot.

Well Done EU morons!

 

[Johnnny]

IM NOT TRYING TO BEAT A DEAD HORSE, on purpose

but this might be worth reading


I was reading the globe and mail today (first) lol and it was talking about a type of wild hamster in France that is Critically Endangered...

Anyways the government has decided that the daily commute is overloading the existing roadways, and they want to add new highways into the last remaining area suitable for this wild hamster... They have decided that its endangered status isnt worth it.... This would wipe it out of France, and leave it clinging to life in western Europe....

 

[Nuggler]

It's estimated there are enough seals for three times the harvest now taking place. Source of that is CBC some time ago, no link; sorry.

We don't kill the whitecoats anymore. I thought they also took the carcases for some use, but could be wrong on that. If not, they should, IMHO, if for no more than to make the hunters look less barbaric.

But, the EU is gonna do what they're gonna do, regardless.

So, Harper's little trip to push the Canadian agenda was fruitful, no?

Maybe the EU agreed to buy more of Canadian made toothpicks, whatever.

8O......I'm starting a mouse farm. A few shares left. Anyone want in??

 

[DurkaDurka]

Perhaps we could cloth and feed the homeless with the excess seal parts we'll have rotting about.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Similar to how we mass slaughtered the cod fish LG. The exploding seal population will still put sustained pressure on the remaining cod stocks and will bring additional pressure to bear on other fish species as well.

That has never been proved. Fishermen blame the seals for decimating cod supply, but scientists are not so sure. Scientists think that the staple food of seals in another type of cod, the type which is not in demand by the fishermen.

There really is a lot about the ecosystem that we don’t know, but scientists don’t think that seals are responsible for dwindling cod supply, over fishing did that.

Anyway, if seals are responsible for collapse of cod fishery, how is the seal population thriving while the cod dies out?

 

[mt_pockets1000]

I will take the word of a seasoned fisherman over a cubicle-dwelling scientist anyday. No surprise that the scientists don't know much about the feeding habits of seals. I well remember how the fishermen were warning about the declines in fish stocks long before the scientists caught on. Ask a fisherman how many times he has seen a half-eaten cod fish tossed aside on the ice by a seal. They eat the soft underbelly of the cod and ignore the rest of the fish. It is also well documented that seals eat a variety of marine life, including cod, eels and herring. Nobody is saying seals are responsible for the collapse of the cod fishery. Man is solely responsible in that department. But you can bet seals are responsible for keeping the stocks at a diminished level. And their population continues to climb. But they're so darned cute.....

 

[Tonington]

That has never been proved. Fishermen blame the seals for decimating cod supply, but scientists are not so sure. Scientists think that the staple food of seals in another type of cod, the type which is not in demand by the fishermen.

No they don't. Harp seals don't have a staple food, unless you want to call fish a staple food. They forage opportunistically, depending on where they are, how old they are, and what season it is.

Honestly, the Atlantic cod will not come back to the Grand Banks. They were over fished to the point where other animals moved in to fill the void, and now they cannot get a foothold back without drastic manipulation of the fisheries.

But, this makes a good parallel. What happened to the cod, can also happen to other species. Just like man overfished, a seal population that overfishes can do the same thing. To herring, menhaden, you name it. That is the whole point now of controlling the herd...

 

[mt_pockets1000]

The IFAW (god bless em) states on their website that the Harp seal's diet includes at least 67 species of fish and 70 species of invertebrates.

 

[darkbeaver]

No they don't. Harp seals don't have a staple food, unless you want to call fish a staple food. They forage opportunistically, depending on where they are, how old they are, and what season it is.

Honestly, the Atlantic cod will not come back to the Grand Banks. They were over fished to the point where other animals moved in to fill the void, and now they cannot get a foothold back without drastic manipulation of the fisheries.

But, this makes a good parallel. What happened to the cod, can also happen to other species. Just like man overfished, a seal population that overfishes can do the same thing. To herring, menhaden, you name it. That is the whole point now of controlling the herd...

I know a guy on a shrimp boat works off of Labrador he sees smaller and smaller shrimp every year and smaller catches, the plankton and the shrimp are out of sync. They're disappearing too.

 

[mt_pockets1000]

No surprise there DB. See my previous thread on shrimp as the 'canary' of the oceans. When shrimp and plankton are threatened we really do have a disaster on our hands.