Seals, Cod, Ecology and Mythology
"Canadian elected officials and Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) staff have stated that the culling of seals will benefit the recovery of Northwest Atlantic cod stocks. In contrast, published reports in scientific journals, including those authored by DFO biologists, unequivocally concl...
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International Marine Mammal Association, Ontario, Canada
1996
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ftdlc:oai:http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu:10535/3932 2023-05-15T15:27:32+02:00 Seals, Cod, Ecology and Mythology Meisenheimer, Peter North America Canada 1996 http://hdl.handle.net/10535/3932 unknown International Marine Mammal Association, Ontario, Canada http://hdl.handle.net/10535/3932 seals fisheries cod water resources resource management ecology Water Resource & Irrigation Working Paper 1996 ftdlc 2021-03-11T16:17:10Z "Canadian elected officials and Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) staff have stated that the culling of seals will benefit the recovery of Northwest Atlantic cod stocks. In contrast, published reports in scientific journals, including those authored by DFO biologists, unequivocally conclude that seals are having no demonstrable impact on cod recovery. 'Common sense' arguments that culling seals will 'obviously' benefit the fishery are premised on a mythological view of predators that is unsubstantiated by most scientific evidence. Research conducted in other fisheries has indicated that the complexity of marine food webs, and the diversity of seal diets mean increased seal numbers can sometimes lead to positive effects on commercial fish stocks. Consistently, recent research in terrestrial systems indicates that top predators can have a significant positive impact on numbers of herbivores by reducing numbers of smaller predators. The Canadian political agenda for dealing with the collapse of the cod stocks has evolved to include a subsidized seal cull, and suppression of internal reports contradicting the 'common sense' position adopted by the political leadership." Report atlantic cod Northwest Atlantic Indiana University: Digital Library of the Commons (DLC) Canada |
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Indiana University: Digital Library of the Commons (DLC) |
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seals fisheries cod water resources resource management ecology Water Resource & Irrigation |
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seals fisheries cod water resources resource management ecology Water Resource & Irrigation Meisenheimer, Peter Seals, Cod, Ecology and Mythology |
topic_facet |
seals fisheries cod water resources resource management ecology Water Resource & Irrigation |
description |
"Canadian elected officials and Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) staff have stated that the culling of seals will benefit the recovery of Northwest Atlantic cod stocks. In contrast, published reports in scientific journals, including those authored by DFO biologists, unequivocally conclude that seals are having no demonstrable impact on cod recovery. 'Common sense' arguments that culling seals will 'obviously' benefit the fishery are premised on a mythological view of predators that is unsubstantiated by most scientific evidence. Research conducted in other fisheries has indicated that the complexity of marine food webs, and the diversity of seal diets mean increased seal numbers can sometimes lead to positive effects on commercial fish stocks. Consistently, recent research in terrestrial systems indicates that top predators can have a significant positive impact on numbers of herbivores by reducing numbers of smaller predators. The Canadian political agenda for dealing with the collapse of the cod stocks has evolved to include a subsidized seal cull, and suppression of internal reports contradicting the 'common sense' position adopted by the political leadership." |
format |
Report |
author |
Meisenheimer, Peter |
author_facet |
Meisenheimer, Peter |
author_sort |
Meisenheimer, Peter |
title |
Seals, Cod, Ecology and Mythology |
title_short |
Seals, Cod, Ecology and Mythology |
title_full |
Seals, Cod, Ecology and Mythology |
title_fullStr |
Seals, Cod, Ecology and Mythology |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seals, Cod, Ecology and Mythology |
title_sort |
seals, cod, ecology and mythology |
publisher |
International Marine Mammal Association, Ontario, Canada |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10535/3932 |
op_coverage |
North America Canada |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
atlantic cod Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
atlantic cod Northwest Atlantic |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10535/3932 |
_version_ |
1766357965400440832 |