Thank you.
I work at Merinov, Canada’s largest sea-to-market industrial research centre that specializes in technology specific to fisheries, aquaculture, processing and marine bioresources.
We are focused mainly on the six species of seals in Canada, more specifically those on the east coast, in the northwestern Atlantic, where we mainly work. They are the grey seal, harbour seal, hooded seal. ringed seal, harp seal and bearded seal.
What we have generally found in the oscillatory behaviour of the prey-predator relationship is that the decline in prey always precedes the decline of predators. We have also frequently found a major gap prior to the decline in predators and following the decline of prey. This would appear to be the case for the harp seal, the grey seal and the hooded seal, which are predators of fish stocks. We therefore anticipate a decline in some of the species, and in most of the prey in all biological populations.
We can also expect that repercussions from climate change, like the ice melt, will result in drowning and hypothermia among young harp seals, as well as changes in water masses and in the distribution of primary production densities, and areas and distribution of prey. This will lead to changes in diet for a number of species and changes in distribution for others. There will be energy losses causing mortality owing to the eventual shortage of resources for certain species, and there will be pandemics.
We know that all of these situations, which will occur over the coming years, could have an impact on seal populations. We can't predict things solely on the basis of the current circumstances, and we anticipate other changes.
There are currently three seal species of interest to hunters: the harp seal, whose population is around 7.4 million individuals, the grey seal, with a population of around 424,300 individuals; and the hooded seal, whose population is around 593,500 individuals.
However, ecosystem issues must also be factored in. For example, an adult grey seal eats 1.5 to 2 tonnes of fish per year, half of which is cod. In the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence there is a problem with cod stock restoration, and there is a moratorium on cod fishing. The harp seal does not appear to be a threat to the cod population in the southern part of the Gulf. However, we don't have a very clear picture of this species' diet, or for species other than the grey seal.
Many fishers have been complaining, particularly in Gaspé, of the grey seal diet, which isn't necessarily limited to fish in open water. Some seals, which are more intelligent than others, go and eat food directly from the traps. There are quite a few little-known problems involving seals. Seals are very opportunistic and can change their diet when the occasion arises.
With respect to the seal hunt, we wouldn't recommend a large scale hunt because of potential changes and their possible impact on the balance of the ecosystem. We believe that the hunt could be recommended only if corporations are prepared to make use of all seal products. We believe that seals are potentially 100% recoverable. The skin, oil, omegas, meat, viscera and organs can all be used. Our organization has conducted several studies on this.
On the other hand, we have also identified a number of challenges in terms of social acceptability, the marketing of seal products, the processing of waste, and the recovery of by-products. Before doing anything for the seal industry, it's really important to look at these challenges, because they are considerable. After that, the hunt would only be recommended if best practices were adopted for management, and if studies conducted were to use robust predictive models.
As I was saying earlier, climate upheavals are coming, and these will affect populations. Prey-predator oscillation also needs to be taken into account. All these issues are going to have an impact on seal and fish populations. And it just so happens that to date, human management of biological populations has not always been exemplary. We therefore need to approach the situation with caution.