otter culling

[shake a paw]

i heard on the noon news that an alberni band is wanting 2 hunt sea otters 4 ceremonial purposes..1% of the current population..not enough in my eyes.not sure if they will be hunting in the salt chuck.or would 1% equal what is wandering our rvrs,feeding on our fish.or i wonder if they will let me deal with them accordingly when im trolling in the canal!!!and ill give the band the pelt(minus the head).lmao

 

[islandboy]

These are sea otters. [^] Not River otters, Seals or Sea lions. Main prey Sea urchins. Sea urchins destroy kelp beds. [B)] A return of Sea otters, less urchins, more kelp, better smolt survival; a win win for fishermen. [^]

www.kayaks2.com

 

[Gooey Bob]

Ask any commercial crab fishermen wether the sea otters main prey is sea urchins. My understanding is that they have a serious tase for dungeness crab as well. Not that thats any reason for a cull, but just FYI. If only the FN's would want to have a seal cull, that THAT would be a win\win!

Gooey

 

[marula]

Hang on a minute there, islandboy is correct, the sea otter population actually helps the fish stocks. With the destruction of the sea otter population 100 years ago, the sea urchins over populated resulting in the destruction of a lot of kelp beds. The kelp beds provide cover and protection for many fish stocks and fry.

With the re-introduction of the sea otters the fish stocks and kelp beds are returning and the crab and sea urchin populations are returning to historical levels. Now that has a few people concerned because there is now not the abundance of crabs and shell fish there once was.

Return of the sea otters to historical values means more fish but less shellfish.

http://www.westcoastaquatic.ca/Kyuquot_Habitat.htm

 

[Dogbreath]

Cool link-Thanks!

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[powder]

Well it took a couple years but a win is a win. F.M. bet me a seal cull would happen way before a sea otter cull and hmm I think I win haha. A lively discussion on this issue in the archives...just search sea otters.

 

[shake a paw]

well what is chasing our hooked fish when we r out trolling 4 salmon????there sea otters arent they???[^][?]

 

[shake a paw]

or is it mostly seals eatin our hooked fish[?]

 

[The Fish Assassin]

never had an otter steal a salmon. I've had one steal a trout off my line though.

Take only what you need.

 

[beemer]

Don't get me started. Sea otters were wiped out in this area by the aboriginal people to sell to the europeans for felting hats. I am not sure what ceremonial purposes we are talking about , but I have a great deal of difficulty with killing something to make a freakin rattle or whatever. Lets not forget that many aboriginal bands harvest urchins for commercial purposes.

Seals. Not really interested in getting into the great debate, but seals really don't want to eat your salmon they would rather eat rockfish or cod. But guess what, they can't, because we have wiped out groundfish habitat through trawling.
Nature is trying to find a balance now because we have tryed to "manage" it for the last 50 years. Leave everything alone and take only what you can use and MAYBE you will be able to bring your granchildren out fishing in 30 years.

 

[alley cat]

Really ? the Native population were to blame for the wipe out of the sea otters for hats ? .............. neat twist of the marketing facts !
You don't buy the rattles thing ? who in the hell mentioned rattles from otter skins ?
Pretty apparent how you look at issues !

AL

 

[beemer]

Yup it is a fact about the sea otter and how they were wiped out.

The "rattle thing" is a metaphor for "aboriginal ceremonial purposes" which in my opinion is a way to manipulate the general public by playing the race/religion card.

I believe in conservation not "management".

 

[shake a paw]

thanx 4 the info!!!i was just wondering if the SEA OTTER has anything 2 do with the low numbers of salmon,steelhead returning 2 the flow.and as 4 the sea otter hunt...why stop there..whats wrong with a river otters pelt???

 

[alley cat]

I think we are being trolled myself !

AL

 

[islandboy]

quote:Originally posted by alley cat

I think we are being trolled myself !

AL

No troll. Read it in the paper, mind you....

There is definitely some confusion on this post re sea vs. river otters.

www.kayaks2.com

 

[Little Hawk]

If I'm not mistaken it was the Russians who decimated the Pacific sea-otter population, not FN.

Personally, I have a great affinity for the weasel-family; I used to breed Ferrets (actually I just watched).

The Sea Otter is the largest member of the family (can top 125/lbs) which includes: Otters (River & Sea), Wolverines, Badgers, Skunks, Fishers, Martens, Minks, Ferrets (3-species), and Weasels (3-species).

Members of the Weasel family share two distinct attributes which separate them from all other mammals:

- all have an anal scent-gland which can be used for defensive purposes as well as territory marking (most pronounced in the Skunk).

- all have extremely large jaw musculature which give these critters (pound for pound) one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom.


Personally, as I watched the FN's latest 'Otter-hunt' initiative unfold on the 6-o'clock NEWS, I found it rather confusing. It was only a few days ago they were on the tube joining the Bear-huggers demanding an end to bear-hunting in BC. There are not now and have never been ANY conservation issues with bears in BC, yet our wonderful Sea-Otters which have only recently clawed their way back from near extinction suddenly qualify once again as fodder for FN ceremonial purposes?

So wearing Otter pelts is suddenly en-vogue while bear-skins don't cut it any more?

 

[fish4all]

quote:Originally posted by beemer

Don't get me started. Sea otters were wiped out in this area by the aboriginal people to sell to the europeans for felting hats. I am not sure what ceremonial purposes we are talking about , but I have a great deal of difficulty with killing something to make a freakin rattle or whatever. Lets not forget that many aboriginal bands harvest urchins for commercial purposes.

Seals. Not really interested in getting into the great debate, but seals really don't want to eat your salmon they would rather eat rockfish or cod. But guess what, they can't, because we have wiped out groundfish habitat through trawling.
Nature is trying to find a balance now because we have tryed to "manage" it for the last 50 years. Leave everything alone and take only what you can use and MAYBE you will be able to bring your granchildren out fishing in 30 years.

And what impact do 300,000 sports anglers have on the inshore rockfish that the otters would rather be eating?

 

[beemer]

Yes the russians were a part of the sea otter decimation.I don't want to get into a FN battle ,but I find it rather unsavoury that a group that played a major role in nearly making a important species extinct would hide behind the "ceremonial purposes" clause.Call it like it is , FN wants to commercially harvest urchins and they are now competing with sea otters.

In regards to rockfish my opinion is that if you want to solve the seal problem you have to ban fishing for rockfish across the board in Southern B.C.