Fur seals hit 85, 000 in SA

[Tacklebags 404]

http://m.perthnow.com.au/news/national/fur-seals-devastating-marine-ecosystem/story-fnii5yv8-1226687806768An explosion of the NZ fur seal population in South Australian waters has led to accusations that it is devastating marine species including fish, the little penguin, giant cuttlefish, sea lions, squid and pipis.The NZ fur seal population has increased to more than 85,000 in SA, an estimated 350 per cent increase in the past 25 years and is rising rapidly each year.Fishermen and community groups say the state's marine eco-system is suffering because the average NZ fur seal eats about 4.5kg of seafood a day, which means a total loss of 382.5 tonnes of seafood a day or 140,000 tonnes a year from SA waters.Apart from damage to the seafood industry, the problem is hurting the state's economy by cutting tourism and reducing jobs.DEWNR has a great opportunity to save biodiversity for future NZ fur seal generations....pity the department can't fine them for decimating any demersal stock build up potential in sanctuary zones.....imagine the revenue at $300 plus dollars per first breach of the rules!TB

[Lexi 14]

This has a repeat of the KI Koala debarcle written all over it.Nature is not in the least bit kind, time for DEWNR to accept that and make the right descisions no matter how cute a Fur Seal is.

[Tacklebags 404]

This has a repeat of the KI Koala debarcle written all over it.Nature is not in the least bit kind' date=' [b']time for DEWNR to accept that [/b]and make the right descisions no matter how cute a Fur Seal is.

[ChuckTseeker 425]

Last year my son went to one of our fav spots and caught no fish, he did find 10 yes read that right 10 Mulloway heads on the bottom of the creek, we were dumb founded and had no idea why anyone would take 10 Mulloway and just cut the heads off Snapps went to the same spot 2 weeks later and did not see a fish, BUT! was harassed by a big seal. It followed them all over the creek! he gave up after a couple of hours and headed back to the ramp and as he is pulling the boat out low and behold there is the seal, it had even followed him back to the ramp.so the plot thickens, no fish at all in the creek, fish heads on the bottom and a seal! well this year snapps and i have had 3 trips to our spot and we have not seen 1 fish, yep read that again not 1 fish of "Any Kind" yep not even a shitty Why?oh we didn't see the seal this year either, but then again when the larder is empty why would you stay cheers chuck

[brenton 637]

Yeah its obvious they should be culled,well it was even obvious about 7 or 8 years ago now there are about 10 penguins left down from thousands and nothing will be done until they are all gone....great work DEWNR time for a meeting. cheers brentonp.s i guess i'll give the creek a miss

[kon 300]

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41664/0Listing recommendation — Populations of the New Zealand Fur Seal are presently increasing, and there is no evidence for sustained declines in any parts of their range. The breeding range of the species is still expanding in both New Zealand and Australia. Although the species is subject to by-catch in commercial fisheries in both New Zealand and Australia, these levels, at present do not appear to be inhibiting broad scale population recovery. The species should be categorized as Least Concern.But from October 2014 I won`t be able to fish recreationally in the Nuyts Reef and Cape Borda areas because that could contribute to compromising the intent of Biodiversity Conservation under the "Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative" Marine Parks approach.Obviously DEWNR have made the informed decision :evil: that the hundreds of recreational boats :evil: which constantly hammer those easily accessible areas :evil: would put too much extraction stress on the fish biomass on top of any seal-related depredations. :vomit:

[Tacklebags 404]

Last year my son went to one of our fav spots and caught no fish' date=' he did find 10 yes read that right 10 Mulloway heads on the bottom of the creek, we were dumb founded and had no idea why anyone would take 10 Mulloway and just cut the heads off Snapps went to the same spot 2 weeks later and did not see a fish, BUT! was harassed by a big seal. It followed them all over the creek! he gave up after a couple of hours and headed back to the ramp and as he is pulling the boat out low and behold there is the seal, it had even followed him back to the ramp.so the plot thickens, no fish at all in the creek, fish heads on the bottom and a seal! well this year snapps and i have had 3 trips to our spot and we have not seen 1 fish, yep read that again not 1 fish of "Any Kind" yep not even a shitty Why?oh we didn't see the seal this year either, but then again when the larder is empty why would you stay cheers chuck[/quote']Yep...I have fished upper St Vincents for a while now. One area that has snapper and whiting has been dead since a colony of about 10 seals resided around there for a while.They used to bring fish up to the surface in front of the boat. Seals are opportunistic predators and in such numbers would definately be having an impact on commercial/recreational fishing regulations.You look at commercial takes from years ago when they have hit their quotas or peaked at certain levels, the stocks appeared sustainable back then. reach those quotas/levels now and the stocks appear unsustainable?The gummy shark decline around KI, penquins, KGW, snapper (in lower spencer anyway), displacement of Australian sealions, the recent sustainability issues could all be affected by this fast growing predatory threat on biodiveristy. Two colonies of seals now reside in Whyalla and probably are having an impact on cuttlefish.Relationships like this are not easy to determine but when one thinks about commercial and recreational fishing issues here in SA lately some reports I have read make you wonder about fur seal influence creeping into our gulf fisheries.

[wisdom 0]

All that was put to the conservation zealots and DEWNR during the MP debate and was met with a wall of silence by both?

[Tacklebags 404]

All that was put to the conservation zealots and DEWNR during the MP debate and was met with a wall of silence by both?

You made the mistake of distinguishing between the two wisdom.... :whistle: From my knowledge, many within this department are members of said organisations?TB

[Del 245]

we did this story this time last year.. http://www.strikehook.com/forum/5-general-fishing/222794-nz-fur-seals-at-murray-mouth?start=15#225122and i repeat my post from back then..10-13000 Aussie sea lions left in Australia.. 300,000 NZ fur seals.. Its seriously time to do somthing.. Penguin colonies are depleted even the cuttle fish in whyalla are low in numbers.. I'm not saying its connected but.. now its connected!

[Tinker 1,645]

I wonder if we will start seeing an increase in great whites around NZ fur seal colonies???Sharks would be the only real predators to those seals.

[jimbojames 285]

I cant really say as i have only really been down the Coorong over this summer but i have had to wrestle a Mully out of a sealions mouth . I had hooked up to a Mully and then as i was reeling it in i had some extra weight all of a sudden , then a seal popped it's head out of the water with my line tracing straight to it ? I gave a quick tug and the Mully came free and a quick wind and the Mully scooted across the water to me . Would of been around 40cm , gave it a swim to make sure it was all good , had a couple of missing scales but looked good otherwise . It did swim off strongly so i hope it is all right . It does worry me just how many Mully's are being consumed down the Coorong by the seals . They do seem to be having a field day down there .

[wisdom 0]

You are most likely right about the connection between the two Tackles, and I recall back in 2010 doing a desk top study to check the numbers that DENWR were using on the sealion population to bolster their claim for MP's and they were dodgy at best. During their population counts many are never counted because they are at sea feeding.So don't ever trust their figures.

[kon 300]

WisdomJust to clarify - are you talking about the Australian Sealions or the NZ Fur Seals?The former are supposedly under population stress whilst the latter are the ones which seem to be breeding like rabbits - which is why DEWNR/greenies used that little sealion lever as an extra bit of ammo at every opportunity.Mind you, having said that, it was always a pretty tenuous argument for DEWNR to allege that no Recfishing in SZs would be of benefit to the sealions - Recs don`t use gillnets, I have never personally heard over the last decade of a Rec hooking a sealion or pulling one up in a lobster pot and I hardly think Rec fishing impact on sealion foodsources would be an issue.So back to certain commercial fishing practices and displacement by the fur seal population explosion as the most likely reasons for a sealion reduction?FWIW, from IUCN Redlist;The main threat to the Australian Sea Lion is bycatch in demersal gillnet and trap fisheries.It was always just another straw to grab at - same as "ooh, but there`s an osprey living in the cliffs nearby"...which would have been strangely unaffected by general boating, beachwalking, diving, snorkelling and surfing all being permitted in any proposed SZ...Never mind, DEWNR will be getting lots of pretty "change of branding" new region-specific logos now, it`s a breath of fresh air folks. :evil: BTW, the lobster pot thing - just received my renewal, and they are flagging recreational lobster pot changes for the 2014/15 season in the Northern Zone regarding "sealion exclusion devices and escape gaps".Being seen to be ticking all possible boxes in regard to a reducing sealion population is the driver, I suspect.Get those angle grinders and welders out come June next year, hey?

[fridge 6]

"sealion exclusion devices and escape gaps".bring back spikes :evil:

[Del 245]

bit of info re Sealions vs Fur seals. Sealions are an Eared Seal, Fur seals are a true seal. Australian Sealions have an 18month gestation period with a 7-10 day rest period before the mother is then on heat again for 24-48hrs. Sea lion pups weight 7kg at birth. bull sea lion in mating season 300-400kg. mating agression is high. this = squashed sea lion pup.often the male sealions do kill babys and this happened on the Jones Island colony this year. we lost quite a few pups just after birth. the colonies are few and far between so this makes genetic inbreeding a possible issue. recent data leads to the figure of 12-13000 Australian sea lion pups between Geraldton western Australia and Victor harbor South Australia. Fur seals gestation period 12 months there for out breeding the sealions almost 2:1. mating aggression not as high. colonies more widespread and greater numbers. population approx 300-350,000 and much wider spread of population. but also inhabits almost all known Australian sealion breeding areas. they do cohabitate in many places. They do interbreed at times but all pups usually die shortly after. Either being underdone or over done due to the 6month gestational difference in cycles. soemthing will need to be done and it wont be pretty. kull/harvesting of the NZ by professional hunters is an option. but not one that will go down in good light to the public and the greenies.

[wisdom 0]

Both !

[silaflex 103]

I noticed another letter in the Advertiser yesterday from animal rights wackjob Jenny Moxham on this subject.She reckons the NZ Fur Seals have every right to eat up all the fishies. The poor things are going to be dead anyway when the big bad fishermen catch them

[wisdom 0]

wonder if they all have a visa? ....or maybe just illegal immigrants !On the other hand I don't think Visa's are required between Aus and NZ.

[Just Me 0]

Just like their compatriot Human Kiwi cousins, they're here for a free feed and in large number. Cull 'em all reckon.

[sophia77 0]

I came across another letter in the Advertiser yesterday from Jenny Moxham, an advocate for animal rights, discussing this topic. According to her perspective, the New Zealand Fur Seals have a natural right to consume the fish, as they argue that the fish are destined to be caught and killed by fishermen anyway. It's an interesting perspective that raises questions about the balance between human activities and wildlife.

[sophia77 0]

I came across another letter in the Advertiser yesterday from Jenny Moxham, who is passionate about animal rights, discussing this topic. She believes that New Zealand Fur Seals should have the right to consume the fish, arguing that they will ultimately meet the same fate when caught by fishermen. It's an intriguing perspective that raises questions about the interaction between human activities and wildlife.