Like in other countries, some Irish fishermen have been complaining that seals are increasingly eating up valuable commercial fish stocks, but a new scientific study says that’s generally not the case, with the possible exception of wild Atlantic salmon.
The work done by researchers with Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, shows that seals don’t have a significant impact on herring, mackerel, cod, haddock, whiting and 30 other species caught for commercial purposes along the south and west coasts of Ireland, from counties Galway to Waterford.
But the hungry marine mammals do search out wild Atlantic salmon caught by fishermen in river estuaries. The researchers seemed to be sending mixed messages as they released the results of their findings, in a time when some commercial fishermen have called for culling seals.
“We need to emphasise that this work in no way says that seals cause no problems for the fishing industry,” said lead researcher Dr Keith Farnsworth from Queen’s University’s Institute for Global Food Security.
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