January 5, 1999
(Fisheries and Aquaculture)

Efford calls on DFO not to reduce 1999 seal fishery TAC as new study shows overpopulation affecting long-term sustainabililty of seal herd

John Efford, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, today released the results of an independent scientific study commissioned by his department which looks at the response of the Northwest Atlantic harp seal population to alternative harvesting strategies. At the news conference with Mr. Efford was Dr. George Winters, co-author of the study and senior fisheries consultant with Focus Technologies Incorporated of St. John's and former Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) research scientist.

Findings of the study, "A Simulation Model of the Response of Harp Seals to Alternative Harvesting Strategies", are particularly significant for what they reveal about the much disputed, federally set harp seal Total Allowable Catch and the long-term sustainability of the current seal herd. For example, it concludes that the replacement yield for 1999 is 402,000 animals, not the lower 275,000 level used by DFO.

According to Minister Efford: "The Northwest Atlantic harp seal herd is currently estimated at 5.4 million animals, more than triple the number of seals since the imposition of the federally set annual quotas in 1971 and about 50 per cent higher than population estimates for the 1950s, when the harp seal population was considered to have recovered to near maximal population levels. Such an increase in the number of seals is having a negative effect on the harp seal herd and on the broader ecosystem of which they are an integral part."

In the case of harp seals, there appears to be no long term management objective with respect to desired population levels. The current management regime for harp seals is based on periodic updates of replacement yield, defined as that level of annual catch which stabilizes the population from one year to the next, and despite its use the seal population continues to grow.

Minister Efford said: "The findings of the study should be drawn on by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to develop an informed management strategy for the burgeoning harp seal herd. The study shows conclusively the need for the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to take immediate action if the seal and the groundfish fisheries are to survive.

"This study also supports the recent recommendations of the Fisheries Resource Conservation Council federally appointed body - which called for immediate action to protect affected groundfish stocks from predation by an overpopulated seal herd. It is now incumbent on the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to respond to these recommendations in a meaningful manner which will restore the balance in both fisheries.

"As well, the findings will enable Canadians to make informed, scientifically based decisions about the management of the harp seal herd, rather than having their opinions formed by the emotionally charged rhetoric and dubious science of those who oppose the Canadian seal fishery and use it as a means to raise funds for their own purposes."

Copies of the study are available from the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture at 30 Strawberry Marsh Road, St. John's, or online at www.gov.nl.ca/fishaq/model/cover.htm

Media contact:

Mary MacNab
Sealing Industry Promotions Officer
Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Telephone: (709) 729-3745
Cell:                 (709) 682-8270
Fax:                 (709) 729-0360
email:        mmacnab@mail.gov.nf.ca

1999 01 05                          1:40 p.m.