Some background
[h=3]Recovering from the slaughter[/h] In Australia the commercial harvest of seals for the fur trade began in 1798. The industry had collapsed by the 1830s, and although it was still legal to hunt seals until 1923, this rarely occurred.
Four species of seal once bred in Tasmania's Bass Strait, the Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal, Australian sea lion, and the Southern Elephant seal.
Three of these species were totally eradicated and only the Australian fur seal now remains in Bass Strait. Approximately 17 000 pups are born each year at both Tasmanian and Victorian breeding colonies and the total Australian fur seal population is estimated to be 60 000 to 80 000. Prior to the exploitation of the sealing industry there was an estimated 3/4 of a million seals in Bass Strait.
The New Zealand fur seal is now restricted to breeding on a small group of islands off the South coast of Tasmania, the Maatsuyker Island group, where approximately 100 pups are born each year. The New Zealand fur seal is now classified as a threatened species in Tasmania.
Although this species no longer breeds in Bass Strait the New Zealand fur seal breeds in South Australia and Western Australia and has a total population of approximately 35 000.
[h=3]Threats to seals[/h]
Entanglement in marine debris is a constant threat to seals
The greatest threat to seals comes not from their natural predators, white pointer sharks and killer whales, but from humans. Seals are shot (illegally) by fishermen, and caught and killed as 'accidental by-catch' in fisheries operations such as trawling and gill netting, while the ingestion of waste oil and other liquid pollutants poses a further threat to seals.
Seals also suffer horrific deaths due to marine pollution, such as entanglement in marine debris. This plastic, non-biodegradable debris includes free-drifting trawl net, packaging straps and monofilament gill net. Such debris causes 2% of Tasmania's seals to suffer a slow strangulation.
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=4918
And this from the Sth Australia Museum
Dr Shaughnessy says he was recently consulted by the South Australian Government as some people want permission to cull the animals.
"The tuna operators want to cull them because the New Zealand Fur Seals get into their nets. They want permission to kill animals they claim they can recognise. And we say, well how can you recognise them? And if you do kill them, three or four others are going to come and replace them quick smart. In addition, some people have applied for permission to shoot the seals on the Capes on Kangaroo Island."
Dr Shaughnessy advised the NRMB that culling would be a bad idea. He says after all, the population of New Zealand Fur Seals on Kangaroo Island will not keep multiplying forever.
"There will be limiting factors. Either they'll run out of space or they'll get to the limit of their food." Dr Shaughnessy believes that it'd be a waste of time trying to interfere, as the populations wouldn't change significantly unless enormous numbers were removed, not to mention the impact on the tourism industry.
http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/media/unlocked/kangaroo-island-seal-survey
