Marine Mammels - Context is Important
as submitted to Positive Aquaculture Awareness, Oct. 6, 2011
Times-Colonist reporter Judith Lavoie’s article “US urged to act over killing of marine mammals” is odd.
It’s not odd that the individuals quoted in the article would complain about salmon farming. Given the names on the list, it’s entirely expected.
What’s odd is that Lavoie makes no effort to put the issue in context for her readers.
First of all, let’s not minimize the issue of marine mammals shot at salmon farms. It’s a big concern – particularly for salmon farmers, who would prefer to not have to shoot any seals or sea lions. That’s why they continue to work to find better ways to keep the animals out.
But context is important. Lavoie’s article has none, and this leaves her readers with the impression that if it wasn’t for those darned salmon farms, seals and sea lions would be unmolested.
That is not true.
There are a lot of different people using our oceans to make a living. Fishermen. Fish farmers. Tourism operators. Loggers. Miners. The list goes on. And they all have an impact on sea life, including marine mammals. Lavoie should have recognized this and explained it to her readers.
For example, her article mentions that from 1989-2000, 6,243 seals and sea lions were killed on BC salmon farms. During nearly that same time period, 1990-1999, 20,867 seals and sea lions were killed or seriously injured when they were taken as bycatch in fisheries from California to Washington.
Fishing obviously kills a lot more seals and sea lions than salmon farms, yet we do not see any activists calling for a boycott on US-caught fish products, and we do not see Lavoie drawing attention to this point.
Closer to home, bycatch data for B.C. fisheries does not seem to be publicly available (salmon farming data is). Perhaps Lavoie could have asked for it to put her story in context. It would certainly make for a more balanced and responsible story.
Article referenced above:
U.S. urged to act over killing of marine mammals
By Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist October 6, 2011
Environmental activists from five countries are asking the U.S to ban imports of salmon from farms where marine mammals are killed.
A letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commerce department, signed by representatives of 19 organizations, says marine mammal shootings violate the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act and the government has a unique opportunity to demand seal-sea lion friendly salmon.
"Recent evidence in Canada and Scotland in particular provide damning evidence of the deliberate and systematic shooting of seals and sea lions," says the letter, which also points out that Steller sea lions, listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, were killed in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
"We ask that the U.S send a strong signal that the killing of marine mammals will no longer be tolerated," says the letter, which names Chile, Canada, Norway and Scotland as the four largest exporters to the U.S.
Recently released Department of Fisheries and Oceans figures show 6,243 seals and sea lions were killed between 1989 and 2000. During the first three months of this year, 37 harbour seals, 141 California sea lions and two Steller sea lions were killed.
B.C. Salmon Farmers Association and the NOAA could not be contacted.
Among B.C. signatories to the letter are biologist and anti-salmon farm activist Alexandra Morton, Bonny Glambeck of Friends of Clayoquot Sound, Ian McAllister of Pacific Wild, Anissa Reed of Salmon Are Sacred and Don Staniford of the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture
