Red paint was used to daub the words "RIP. Cull" and "RIP. I am hungry" on the sign. Gardaí have removed the seal heads and signs from the scene as part of their investigation. Upset locals believe the sanctuary, which is a favourite destination for school tours, may have been targeted by individuals who say seals are destroying the local fishing industry and are demanding a cull.
Emily Butt, a volunteer at the centre, said the attack was revolting and well planned. "This is revolting and very distressing for everyone here," said Ms Butt. Fishermen say that their livelihoods are threatened by a growing and hungry seal population which, they claim, is out of control and preying on scarce fish stocks. Seals have been attacking nets on trawlers, with a monkfish catch on a Dingle trawler being destroyed 90km west of the Blaskets last week.
For the past two years, fishermen have been calling on the Government to undertake a cull to control the seal population. Last year, Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the Marine Institute commissioned a seal survey to determine if a cull is necessary. The survey is ongoing. Seals are a protected species under Irish and European law, but there have been several reported cases of secret culls over the past decade. Animal rights group Aran is offering a €5,000 reward in a bid to catch the perpetrators.
3 comments:
A fine hefty enough to impound their trawler and a few months in jail will probably improve the number of fish in the area too.
Last time I was in dingle there was a dolphin that was friendly enough to come right up to you, practically out of the water.
Humans take many, many times more fish than seals and yet we still here the same crap about seals depleting fish stocks. These stories started before quotas when fish stocks were falling due to extreme overfishing. European trawlers regularly throw back fish they catch over their quotas, so there are more than enough fish to satisfy the quotas and yet idiot fishermen still bleat on about seal culls.
Who said that humans have more right to the fish than seals anyway? Here's an idea - how about a human cull? That should improve fish stocks.
And why single out sealsanyway? Why not sharks or cetaceans.
To the fishermen who claim they can't make enough money: Sorry but the reason you can't make money is the quotas. And the reason for the quotas is massive overfishing by yourselves and your predecessors. IOW you only have yourselves to blame.
Really, it's their food, not ours.
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