SEALS ARE NOW IN GREAT NUMBERS.

[Worms]

They need culling, end of story!

 

And where does it end? I can see the headlines now "Anglers call for cull of native wild fish predators because it's spoiling their sport...."

 

This sort of thing has been going on for years with cormorants and otters etc. Why not cull all commercials that don't supply food for the UK market is a better one in my book...and all foreign ones...then there'll be plenty of fish for all.

[Phone]

Worms,

 

You recommending culling the invaders or those who chase the natives for sport?

 

Phone

[andy_youngs]

They need culling, end of story!

I'm not sure that helps Clive. I appreciate that you are probably a bit emotional about something or other right now, and I also agree that some campaigners might be in denial about the realities of survival on this planet, but that's no reason for using silly terms like 'culling', especially not in this context.

 

I suggest that we use best endeavours to persuade people to harvest their natural resources in a sustainable manner. To my mind, that includes seals, otters etc, but excludes humans.

Edited April 4, 2012 by andy_youngs

[cleeclive]

I'm not sure that helps Clive. I appreciate that you are probably a bit emotional about something or other right now, and I also agree that some campaigners might be in denial about the realities of survival on this planet, but that's no reason for using silly terms like 'culling', especially not in this context.

 

I suggest that we use best endeavours to persuade people to harvest their natural resources in a sustainable manner. To my mind, that includes seals, otters etc, but excludes humans.

 

Cull might not be a politically correct term, but basically it is exactly the same as population management, be it seals, elephants or whatever. So long as it is done on the basis of some scientific studies which show a need to manage a population sustainably we may well need to cull a proportion of the population.

We are now seeing problems with urban fox populations, which some may well love and others are not so keenon, when their daughters pet rabbit or chickens have just been ripped to pieces. Foxes enjoy killing for entertainment, as seals do.

 

Wildlife has been managed for long enough by gamekeepers, who were very skilled at their job, now it seems taboo to suggest killing anythig, and I will not deny that the commercial fishing sector has killed too much.

 

To quote "Andrew Tate" I spend a fortune building a ship to catch fish, if the scientists get their sums wrong don't blame me if it all goes wrong., or words to that effect.

[andy_youngs]

I've got no problem with the term 'cull', as long it's not applied to human beings.

 

When it comes to species like badgers, foxes, seals, otters, etc, I think 'cull' ultimately becomes the only option. Sadly, we wait until the population gets out of control, does untold damage to the environment and peoples livlehoods, and then we end up having to have a mass cull and incinerate the carcasses or throw them in ditch somewhere.

 

To my mind, it would make far more sense to harvest these species in a sustainable manner, so that the populations don't get out of hand in the first place. Seal meat is worth money, so are seal, fox, otter and badger pelts. Specialists could be licensed to harvest these resources in a sustainable and humane way, rather than allowing the problem to get out of hand so that widescale culling becomes necessary.

 

It's our useless bloody politicians who are too preoccupied with mollifying the bunny huggers that don't get it.

Edited April 24, 2012 by andy_youngs

[snakey1]

Personnelly I can think of quite a few members of the human race that could do with culling.

[big_cod]

I will be quite honest i allways turned a blind eye with seals they look so cuddle and nice but in truth they are eating machines they eat tremendous amounts of fish and there is now a massive explosion of them they are now running amock in the rivers as well catching more sea trout and salmon more than any poacher could dream about and the public wants to shoot poachers on sight but seals nothing is being done about them they are even wandering into the freshwater up the river esk here at whitby feeding on salmon and sea trout as you would say they a running amock everywhere.

 

 

paul.

Edited April 27, 2012 by big_cod

[snakey1]

Interesting page here showing the numbers of licences applied for to shoot seals in Scotland, the amount issued and the number of seals shot.

Edited April 27, 2012 by snakey1

[cleeclive]

I've got no problem with the term 'cull', as long it's not applied to human beings.

 

When it comes to species like badgers, foxes, seals, otters, etc, I think 'cull' ultimately becomes the only option. Sadly, we wait until the population gets out of control, does untold damage to the environment and peoples livlehoods, and then we end up having to have a mass cull and incinerate the carcasses or throw them in ditch somewhere.

 

To my mind, it would make far more sense to harvest these species in a sustainable manner, so that the populations don't get out of hand in the first place. Seal meat is worth money, so are seal, fox, otter and badger pelts. Specialists could be licensed to harvest these resources in a sustainable and humane way, rather than allowing the problem to get out of hand so that widescale culling becomes necessary.

 

It's our useless bloody politicians who are too preoccupied with mollifying the bunny huggers that don't get it.

 

We visited the fur seal colony on the Skeleton coast in a few years back,while driving around Namibia, they are a serious issue there. They have a seal factory nearby, and they nip out in the early morning and harvest their daily quota before the tourists arrive. It did not appear to have any significant impact on numbers.

[Leon Roskilly]

They have a seal factory nearby, and they nip out in the early morning and harvest their daily quota before the tourists arrive. It did not appear to have any significant impact on numbers.

 

 

Nor does disease. When seals are killed in vast numbers, the population just bounces back.

 

When one seal dies, the resources are available to grow a replacement which would otherwise have perished.

 

It's competition that keeps seal numbers down.

 

Remove the other predators that eat fish (eg big cod, big bass, shark), and seals do well.