Seals of Disapproval

On November 15, 2007 I reported on the Junk Science Studies of Overfishing by Newfoundlanders, much to the dismay  of some readers who still believe  newfoundlanders in  their  little 6 meter dory's were the cause of overfishing, something  newfoundlanders have been doing for hundereds of years, including the culling of seals who are the Cods main "PREDATORS " in winter time to prevent seals and their indiscriminate maiming of fish stocks, whereby seals take a bite out of  fish laden  with thousands of eggs which is then left to die in the oceans waters. It was only in the 1970's when the world decided the poor seals demise was brutal and put political pressure on politicans that the annual seal kill was banned or greatly reduced did the world notice and eventual and rapid decline of fish stocks off the shores of Newfoundland. Newfoundlanders warned the public and politicians that by allowing seals to thrive the end of Cod fishing would be a certainty.  Politicians and the World noticing the Cod decline in Newfoundland chose instead to blame the Newfoundlanders of overfishing and place a moratorium on the cod fishery, resulting in bannning of fishing in the Newfoundland region resulting in the Death of Cultural fishing legacy, putting Newfoundlanders in three decades of hardship and unemployment as their livilhood ended due to political idiocy.

Below are two studies by scientists vindicating what I already commented on previously in my stories on a study on declining fish stocks on the eastern seaboard attributed to Seals along with other mammals, and not overfishing as  stated by inane Celebrities who  prostrate themselves over ice floes cuddling Doe eyed seals, stating Seals are not the problem. 

Of course Newfoundlanders whose livlihood for centuries always knew this fallacy, yet shortsighted politicians and star crossed Public would rather believe the rants of celebs such as fading starlet Brigette Bardot and Beatle Paul McCartney and others who show up in Newfoundland for a 5 minute photo op and then scurry back to their private jets abroad.   But those who refuse to believe anything unless a celebrity states it, shows the Publics gullibility and insipid mentality when it comes to jumping on the bandwagon of Junk Science.

 http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2005/06/09/cod-foodchain050609.html

 Effects of cod collapse trickle down food chain

Last Updated:

Thursday, June 9, 2005 | 7:31 PM ET

CBC News

The collapse of the East Coast cod fishery appears to have caused the
region's marine ecosystem to restructure itself, researchers say.

Kenneth
Frank of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Dartmouth, N.S., and
his colleagues studied more than 40 years of data on the food chain.

The study focused on the northwest Atlantic ecosystem off Nova Scotia, an area that was dominated by cod for centuries.

Cod (Courtesy: NOAA)

Starting in the mid-1980s, several commercially exploited bottom-dwelling species including cod, haddock and pollock declined.

Once
these top predators in the food chain were gone, populations of smaller
fish and invertebrates like northern snow crab and northern shrimp
increased.

Meanwhile, zooplankton and algae were consumed faster as more of the smaller fish species dined on the base of the food chain.

Ecologists have long suspected that if top predators are removed then prey will increase.

Until now, they've haven't been able to trace the effects of
removing a top predator down through all levels of the food chain –
what Frank calls a "cascading effect."

Although crab and shrimp
are now worth more than the original cod fishery, the study's authors
caution the importance of biodiversity can't be ignored.

"One
must acknowledge the ecological risks inherent in 'fishing down the
food web,' as is currently occurring on the Scotian Shelf, or the
ramifications associated with indirect effects reverberating across
levels throughout the food web, such as altered primary production and
nutrient cycling," the team wrote in Friday's issue of the journal
Science.

They note several management measures meant to reverse the collapse of cod stocks have failed.

Species like seals, though, have benefited from not having to compete against cod for food, the researchers said.

Here is my story published Novemebr 15th, 2007 where I state Seals are the real cause of decling fish stocks on the Eastern Seaboard.
 http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/canada-global-warming-may-reduce-cod-stocks-arctic#comment-61471