Sir, I refer to the letter from Dr Mervyn Clarke (May 2nd) concerning his views on how to reduce seal numbers in Ireland, in his succinct communication, Dr Clarke proposes the following: (1) a "massive" cull of seals; (2), use of the Enfield 1914 rifle; (3) use of bren guns; (4) seals should be used as live targets for the Irish Army to practice on.
He does not make it clear whether his dislike for "chairborne conservation people" whom he regards as responsible for misguided protection of seals, also extends to research scientists who couch their findings in carefully worded statements, supported by extensive field research. Is Dr Clarke aware that 97 biologists from 15 countries recently concluded that "all scientific efforts to find an effect of seal predation on Canadian groundstocks have failed to show any impact"? Is he also aware that the Canadian government's Department of Fisheries and Oceans senior scientist, Dr Ransome Myers, is on record as stating: "What happened to the east coast fish stocks had nothing to do with the environment, nothing to do with the seals. It (was) simply overfishing." Not only has the link between seals and fish stock declines not been proven, but the Canadian Sealers Association is downplaying this angle in their support of sealing, for which they turn instead to the fact that seal hunting is a traditional pursuit for coastal communities and has existed for more than 500 years.
Their main justification now is that seal harvesting is a viable business and that seal products can have a lucrative market. They fail to mention that "demand, hence potential market, for seal sex organs has increased almost beyond comprehension" (Roy Rideout, government fisheries adviser). One cannot help wondering whether Dr Clarke would like to extend his proposal for, Irish Army involvement in killing seals by also having them trained in cutting off seal penises in order to help finance his proposed "massive cull".
Unfortunately, it is all too easy for our species to draw oversimplified conclusions concerning cause and effect in nature.
The fact that seals eat fish does not necessarily mean that if you remove the seals there will be more fish for fishermen to hard vest. This is a very difficult concept to explain to fishermen for whom catch per unit effort is in sharp decline. It is also "human nature" to seek a scapegoat other than ourselves.
The facts are that it is our own species whose population has exploded and the need to feed more and more people, combined with the incredible pace of technological advance in fisheries, have led to over fishing and decline of fish stocks on a global scale. A massive cull of seals, whether by Enfield 1914 rifles, bren guns, and with or without seals being employed as moving targets, will do nothing to change this. - Yours, etc.,