I've read and heard comments about sea lions from fishermen who complain how the beasts are responsible for the decline in fish stocks. It is a lot easier to blame someone or something else for our problems than it is for an individual or humanity to take responsibility for their actions. I look at the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, my place of residence. There has been a sharp decline in the numbers of fish stocks such as Coho, Steelhead and Searun Cutthroat. People are the main cause of the decline. Poor logging practices is one the big culprits in our region. The big one is urban development. The loss of small feeder streams in the valley is horrendous. It is saddening when I think of all the small steams which have been destroyed in the valley over the past 40 years. These have gone from year round clear running streams to spate streams which only have water in them when it rains. The amount of large scale urban and industrial development has deforested the land and then the buildings that of been constructed in the place of forests allow the rain to flush the stream like a giant toilet. Dikes have been constructed to allow the drainage of salt marshes to provide farm land. Again a great loss of transitional rearing habitat for anadromous fish. Although there may be some over population in some regions or the migration of a species into areas not normally inhabited. It might be that the gill nets and seines have taken so much of their historical food source that they have to follow the fish into areas not normally traveled to find enough sustenance to survive. In summary we might be a little hasty if we call for a thinning or the wholesale slaughter of a specie until we take a long look in the mirror and truely identify the invaisive specie.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken Staples" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 7:49 AM
Subject: [VFB] Recent Fly Fisherman article: Seals
Hi Everybody,
Mel's last comment on the invasive species thread got me thinking about an article I just read in Fly Fisherman concerning seals & sea lions.
Basically there are movements to eliminate a chunk of the pinniped population because they feel they are too much competition for the salmon. Not living in the area I have no reference points for this or not. What are some of the thoughts of those of you who live in areas with seals/sea lions?
Part of it scares me. Not from a "Oh, seals are so cute" standpoint but more from a "If we get rid of a bunch of seals then what impact will that have elsewhere that we don't know about?" Who knows, maybe seal poo is necessary to fertilize the kelp beds? ;-)
So, just curious to see what people think who are affected (or not) by this.
Ken
