Seal overpopulation having 'significant and damaging impact' on Canadian fish stocks: report

Canadian parliamentarians are warning that seal populations pose a danger to fish stocks and are upsetting marine ecosystems in the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans.

A bipartisan report from the House of Commons standing committee on fisheries and oceans says urgent measures are needed from the federal government and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, including an increase in the humane seal harvest.

"This report's objective is to draw the attention of DFO, relevant departments and the Canadian government to important observational and empirical evidence that the overpopulation of pinnipeds on Canada's three coasts is having a significant and damaging impact on the health and conservation of fish stocks and is creating an imbalance in our marine ecosystems," the study concludes.

MPs issued their report — "Ecosystem Impacts and Management of Pinniped Populations" — last week.

The committee held hearings over three months starting in March. The core of the report "is the Committee's strong belief that measures to address this issue are urgently required. It is time to act," wrote the authors.

"It is for this reason that the Committee makes 17 recommendations directed to the Government of Canada that touch on pinniped science; the importance of a sustainable, humane and ethical pinniped harvest; the development of the infrastructure necessary for an increased pinniped harvest and the promotion and marketing of seal products both in Canada and internationally."

'Finally someone is hearing this'

Among the recommendations is one calling for Canada to prioritize the timely collection and public reporting on specific seal populations, what they are eating and their impact on other fish species.

The findings are welcomed by one of the witnesses who appeared before the committee, Ginny Boudreau of the Guysborough County Inshore Fishermen's Association. She also served as a member of a seven-member Atlantic seal science task team convened by DFO in 2020 to address the impacts of seal predation on fish stocks in Atlantic Canada.

"We're relieved that finally someone is hearing this and and hopefully going to respond to this," Boudreau told CBC News Monday.

"It's not even so much that we need to do a better job because that job hasn't even begun yet."

Seals by the numbers

In May 2022 the Atlantic seal task team highlighted the same issue, in blunter terms, calling DFO's efforts to measure the impact of the massive seal population in Atlantic Canada "woefully inadequate."

The industry-led report — commissioned by DFO — disputed the department's claims that, for the most part, seals are not harming fish populations.

The Sable Island grey seal herd off Nova Scotia is the largest in the world, home to the vast majority of the Scotian Shelf population, which is estimated at 310,000.

This month, DFO scientists slashed their estimate of the harp seal population — primarily off Newfoundland and Labrador — down to 4.7 million from 7.6 million, based on new modelling. The lower estimate reflects higher and more variable juvenile mortality since 2000.

No call for a cull

The committee report does not call for a cull, but the MPs say the federal government should promote humanely increasing the seal harvest.

Since 2009, the European Union has banned seal imports, except those harvested by indigenous communities — a testament to the impact of the international campaign against Canada's seal hunt and a reminder of the challenge facing any effort to increase the seal harvest. Unlike the seal population, the market for seal products is not healthy.

During hearings this spring, Canada's seafood industry urged "extreme caution" when considering measures to control the growing seal population, warning they could jeopardize market access for and acceptance of Canadian seafood.

"Some importers and domestic buyers do not want to be linked with companies and or countries associated with the sealing industry, so there must be extreme caution by the government. So as to not jeopardize existing customers for Canadian seafood companies of our efficiency for products," Paul Lansbergen, president of the Fisheries Council of Canada, told MPs.