Seal herds bite into fish stocks THE SKEENA RIVER’s harbour seal population is up dramatical- ly. But Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) biologist Peter Olesiuk isn’t convinced they’re gobbling salmon as voraciously as commercial fishermen think. There’s: little data for the Skeena, but Olesiuk says salmon make up about four percent of the dict of seals in the Strait of Georgia, And it’s estimated seals there eat about 3.5 per cent of the sal- mon returning to the Fraser river lo spawn, In the Skeena, those numbers may be somewhat larger, he said. During the mid-1960s, Olesiuk said, there was-a commercial hunt for seals on the Skeena and the rest of the west coast that kept the numbers down. Prior to that there was a bounty on seals. People were paid $5 for cach scal snout they brougat in. By the end of the 1960s, haw- ever, concerns about decreasing slocks ended the hunt on the west coast. “Since 1970, when they were protected, they have been grow- ing al the rate of about 12.5 per cent per year — which means the population basically doubled every six years,’’ Olesiuk said. Up until 1985 fishermen were allowed to carry guns on their boats and shoot at seals that were directly interfering with their nets. By 1990, Olesiuk says, the © Skeena seal population had in- creased ten-fold to more than 1,800, “It now looks like it has stabi- lized,’? he said. ‘‘We think the population has reached carrying capacity —- thal it’s either diminishing or not growing any more,” More years cf data will be needed to determine the trend, he said, But seals continue to grow in number in the areas outside the Skeena mouth. The estuary is the most altrac- live place to live, he said. The animals in the river are still producing, but the river is fully occupied so to speak,’’ he said. “‘So those animals are im- migrating to outside areas,’” , Olesiuk says that means any kill of river seals will simply make room for their neighbouring brethren to move back home. “Tf you shoot them, you will just have animals from adjoining _ areas move in and take their place,”’ he said. ‘‘I don’t think shooting them is going to solve the problem,’? Researchers have been studying other ways {to reduce the catch of salmon by seals. ; Olesiuk says ane study tried “Since 1970, .when they were protected, they have been growing at the rate of about 12.5 per cent per year — which means the popu- lation basically doubled every six years.” capturing seals and -relocating therm elsewhere. “Tt wasn’t feasible,’ be said. ‘They return within a couple of weeks — even from great dis- tances.’” Research is now examining the possibility of repelling seals from key river estuaries using — high- frequency sound devices in the water. Unfortunately, says Olesiuk, the noise-makers produce sounds that carry up to 50 kilometres un- derwater. *“The sounds have to be so loud there are concerns about the ef- fects on other marine animals,’’ he said, The migration patterns of har- bour porpoises and whales may be disturbed by the devices, he said, “We've gone fom hunting marine mammals, to protecting Prospector Soft Toe WALKING, STORE HOURS: Mon. to Sat. 9:30 - 6:00 Fri. ‘tit 9 Sun. 12-5 BOOTS Reg. $99.98 Reg. $32.98 (Seconds) Reg. $6.99 Levis” Straight Leg Orange Tab JEANS Reg. $46.98 of Skeena Mall Terrace 635-3249 Use your Universal Card, Mastercard, Visa or American Express Order Toll Free 1-800-663-3203 marine mammals, now the popu- lations have recovered and there are concerns again aver con- flict,” he said. ‘*When we will have a solution, I do not know.’’ Commercial fishermen who “regularly “haul up nets full of bitten-up salmon aren't in any mood to wait. ‘We have an awful lot of com- _ plaints of fish being destroyed in their. nets,’? says Les Jantz, a DFO fisheries biologist in Prince Rupert. “Even from _ recreational fishermen — we hear lots of ’ stories of & guy who hooks a big one and then ends up battling for the fish with a seal on the other end,” "In recent years the creatures have been seen as far upstream as the Kispiox River and Moriceiown canyon. Jantz says the seals are cven disrupting DFO’s test fishery at Tyhee that’s used to project run Strengths and ihe numbers of fish returning to the river. “Every day when the net’s in place there are 10 to 15 seals working it,’’ he said, ‘“You don’t get an accurate measure of what’s going up the river. because the seals are removing the fish regu- larly.”’ Every six weeks the entire net has to be replaced at a cost of around $4,000. When a commercial boat's nets are destroyed, that money comes out of the fisherman’s pocket —- not the public purse, Commercial fishermen are also convinced that the seals prey heavily on steelhead that are caught and released — and thus weakened — by anglers. Olesiuk doubts it’s a major source of the steelhead kill, but says the idea makes sense. “Seals are opportunisitic predators — they’re going to lake what’s easiest to catch,”’ he said. Declining steelhead runs have prompted cuts to the commercial fishery for sockeye salmon, which return at the same time as steelhead, o. Kodiak Quilt “3 . LANNEL @ SHIRTS reas LA Reo. soos 204 : 5 oa The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 1, 1994- A3 News In Brief Plant book THE B.C. Forest Service has published a second book on plant life in B.C, Plants of Coastal British Columbia features _ more than 900 plants growing along B.C.’s coast. Tt follows the 1992 publi- cation of Plants of Nerth- ern British Columbia. The book was edited by Smithers-based forest ser- vice official Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon who ~ works for the ministry’s re- search branch in Victoria. Plane ticket quandry MEMBERS OF the QUICK WORK: Kitselas and Kitsumkalum fishermen pull in their nets quickly when they spot seals in the river. Gov't to decide on seal hunt proposal THE DECISION on whether to allow a seal hunt on the Skeena River will probably rest with fed- eral fisheries minister Brian Tobin. “The issue of commercialization is something that would probably be dealt with at a national policy level,’’ said Sue Farlinger, DFO’s Prince Rupert-based aboriginal fisheries coordinator. Much work still has to be done before that decision can be made, she added. ; For one thing, she said, there is no clear indication yet what the objective of the hunt would be. ““If the objective of the fishery is to make seals go away, that’s one objective,’’ Farlinger said. “‘Tf the objective is for the Tsimshian people to markel seal meat or hides, then you have a whole bunch of different’ economic, Tiarket and other factors you have vot Mbit thae wee ae Eadie fecnae tO Se bee et Environmentally Friendl ‘DFO’s Oltawa-based’ chief of ‘Bul they’re harvesting only a ‘don’t have the market’ for the Terrace-Kitimat Airshow — Society met Monday to de- cide what to do with two un- claimed plane tickets. of- fered as draw prizes at the May 3 airshow. Nobody has yet come for- ward to claim the two Air B.C. tickets despite draw numbers being publicized over the past two .weeks here and in Kitimat, says society member ° Andrew Webber. . The numbers, taken from lickets given to those enter- ing the airshow pate, were drawn and announced at the end of the show but not everybody stayed for the conclusion, said Webber. . Adviser visits THOSE WITH claims ques- tions about the Workers’ Compensation Board can lo apply to it.”’ Public sentiment about killing seals makes the decision even more difficult and uncomfortable. **Marine mammals are perceived in a slightly. different way fom fish by the general public,” Far- linger explained. Research lo date indicates that there does seem to be enough seals for some kind of sustainable harvest, she said, over and above the existing food fishery. “We would only consider a har- vest of seals for commercial pur- poses — not for culling pur- poses,’” added Claude Lamarche, marine mammal programs. get information here June East coast sealers are allowed to 14. take up to 37,000 seals per year, Visiting will be a workers’. he said. adviscr employed by the labour ministry. This posi-— tion is independent of the . ‘WCB. 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