Tag Archives: tens of thousands of sea lions
Pacific Balance Pinniped Society says halving seal numbers would mean more salmon for endangered orcas
There are more than 100,000 seals in B.C. waters, along with tens of thousands of sea lions. Pearce said the quickest way to reverse declining salmon numbers is to kill tens of thousands of them, reducing their numbers by 50 per cent. But that’s where the debate gets as murky as the waters of the Fraser. He cites a study that concludes pinnipeds are eating more than 600 metric tons of chinook salmon every year in Washington state waters alone. That adds up to millions of fish that could be harvested by humans, set aside for killer whales, or allowed to spawn. Earlier this year, lawmakers in the U.S. approved an expansion of an ongoing cull of sea lions that prey on salmon and steelhead in West Coast rivers. >click to read<16:42
