Seals

your right slowarm you dont know me and it seems you dont know vincent a very conservation minded fishery officer,if he is calling for a [b]limited cull[b][ then i would think there is a need, from personal experience even tho the nets are off the number of salmon entering the system is well down.We all know that there are many reasons for this but i have personally had salmon and seatrout taken of my rod by seals,and when i pay through the nose to fish this system then forgive me if im p**sed off! this is a very valualbe asset to the local economy and i will put the local economy first any time!!

Your right doggie3131, I don't know Vincent and I'm sure he means well. But I tend to prefer to make up my own mind on things. I suggest you look up the CFB website and see the figures and reports for yourself.

According to the CFB the Web Site the total angling catch of salmon over the years 2004-2007

2004 - 23,283.
2005 - 21,135.
2006 - 25,019.
2007 - 29,533.

I did not find the figures for 2008 but the latest reports from the Moy state that the number, as of this point in the year, are up on last year, while the figures on the Munster Blackwater in May last year were 22 while 53 were caught in May this year. Some rivers are not producing due to poor water conditions while others report fish waiting for river levels to increase.

As to a salmon, or any fish, being taken from the lines of anglers I suggest you remember that if you had not hooked the fish in the first place, causing it to fight and causing it to broadcast that fight in it's attempts to get free, then the seal would not have the advantage of knowing exactly where the fish is. Whether you want to admit it or not, you as an angler are part of that particular problem.

As I said from the start, my issue here is the killing of animals just because they interfere with our hobby. As the numbers of fish caught is, according to the CFB tables, increasing, the seals are not hitting the overall number of fish. Seals are only a problem in estuarine waters and as you will see from the reports on the CFB website, catches on the Moy are up the length of the river.

No one is talking about killing seals because of our hobby . you have to cull to perserve stocks for the seals. to many seals means less fish for them to eat therefore you have more animals trying to survive on a smaller stock of feed. culling the seals will keep numbers down and improve the seals condition ie you would cull sick and old animals improving the bloodline

Another possibility of why the higher numbers at the moment! It's the Summer Time! Our coast is packed with tonnes of fish on the move and I'm guessing Mackies being the main one, so the fish come closer to land and Hey Presto the seals from all over the place follow them, result we see more seals and think there's an explosion of them.

Bet we won't see half as many in October around the place! The fish will move on as will the majority of the seals! The local residents on certain marks will stay as they are. The rest will scatter country wide!

Makes Perfect Sense to me.

maybe kieth
but i rember growing up in wexford and going around the beaches and seeing seals that had been shot indiscrimently we dont want to see that again

No one is talking about killing seals because of our hobby

What?? Did you only start reading this on page 3?? What about this shower??

[edited by moderator]

You guys are unbelievable. I'm embarrassed to be associated with a site that has people who behave in this way. It's apalling. You're nothing short of a disgrace. Cormdogg is right you're providing fuel to animal rights activists in saying all the above tripe and giving all anglers a bad name. Imagine suggesting that seals should be culled because you are invading their habitat to catch their food for a bit of sport and they eat that food off your hook or worse just eat their own food thereby not leaving enough for your sport. Jesus Christ I think I've had about enough of this site!

Some of the more emotive posts about culling have been edited or removed.

I'm all on for a cull, but to keep things fair and equal it should be one seal for each angler who tops himself. By doing this the fish stocks will improve for the remaining anglers and seals proportionally. A list of those interested in participating in this experiment can be kept on the site. If there are no volunteers a vote can be taken and those with the lowest votes can be thrown off Sorrento point in a sack.

To be serious for a moment lads, what on earth are you all talking about? The angling community is in enough trouble already beacuse of the litter and line left behind by some. We are supposed to be banned from most South Dublin beaches for a number of reasons. Whenever a sailing boat or a swimmer comes too close to a pier or rocks they get shouted at. Some of the mackie bashers are beginning to bring their entire extended families fishing with them and spend the afternoon passing bottles of Vodka around. We have actors in the nip hugging dead fish for Christs sake. Do we really need to start proposing a cull. If so let the first one amongst you go down to Bulloch next Sunday morning with a shotgun and see the reaction you will get. "Sorry little girl, do you mind standing back while I do something in aid of the angling community" Lads, until the seals make their way up to Cavistons and get in the queue it's not going to happen.

I'm all on for a cull, but to keep things fair and equal it should be one seal for each angler who tops himself. By doing this the fish stocks will improve for the remaining anglers and seals proportionally. A list of those interested in participating in this experiment can be kept on the site. If there are no volunteers a vote can be taken and those with the lowest votes can be thrown off Sorrento point in a sack.

To be serious for a moment lads, what on earth are you all talking about? The angling community is in enough trouble already beacuse of the litter and line left behind by some. We are supposed to be banned from most South Dublin beaches for a number of reasons. Whenever a sailing boat or a swimmer comes too close to a pier or rocks they get shouted at. Some of the mackie bashers are beginning to bring their entire extended families fishing with them and spend the afternoon passing bottles of Vodka around. We have actors in the nip hugging dead fish for Christs sake. Do we really need to start proposing a cull. If so let the first one amongst you go down to Bulloch next Sunday morning with a shotgun and see the reaction you will get. "Sorry little girl, do you mind standing back while I do something in aid of the angling community" Lads, until the seals make their way up to Cavistons and get in the queue it's not going to happen.

No one is talking about killing seals because of our hobby

What?? Did you only start reading this on page 3?? What about this shower??

[edited by moderator]

You guys are unbelievable. I'm embarrassed to be associated with a site that has people who behave in this way. It's apalling. You're nothing short of a disgrace. Cormdogg is right you're providing fuel to animal rights activists in saying all the above tripe and giving all anglers a bad name. Imagine suggesting that seals should be culled because you are invading their habitat to catch their food for a bit of sport and they eat that food off your hook or worse just eat their own food thereby not leaving enough for your sport. Jesus Christ I think I've had about enough of this site!

jaysus lads i wish i knew it all a couple months after taking up angling

Ahab, I've been angling since i was 7 or 8 years old. I'm 37 now. I took a break from it for a while granted, and maybe some people cop on to things quicker than others.

Enough already.

This thread has just about run it's course, so I'm locking it. Both sides of the argument have been raised, anything else is either going to be repetition or degenerate into abuse.

If anyone has anything else topical, relevant and interesting enough to add, then pm me or any other mod to get it unlocked.