For many years, Cape Cod has been known for the thousands of seals it’s home too. It draws many tourists to the island by the promise of seeing the whiskered sea mammals. There are tours that make three runs a day bringing visitors to Monomoy Island to see the seals in their habitat. The National Fisheries roughly estimates there are 16,000 seals home to Cape Cod and the nearby islands and the number continues to grow. However, the seals don’t only attract visitors but also sharks. The nonprofit shark research group Ocearch tagged two Great White sharks off of Cape Cod last year: a 2,300-pound, 14 footer, and a 3,500-pound, 16 foot shark. Those sharks are enough to keep the some of the seals and people out of the water. But, the fishermen claim the sharks aren’t the main problem, the seals are. Fishermen believe they are depleting on already low fishery rates. Fishermen believe the seals are eating the fish faster than they can catch them. Some possible solutions are to have the Federal Government take another look at the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, which many fishermen argue it works too well- allowing the seal population to go unchecked. Another solution is to see if the law needs to be modified and corrected. Some barriers are the seals are such cute creatures it will be hard to get the government to look back at the protection act. Another barrier is money, how will they take away some of the seals away from the only place they call home and a tourist town known for it’s astonishing number of seals.
In my opinion, the Fishermen need to do whatever it takes to get the government to just review the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. The environment is out of balance, which is very threatening to not only the fishermen, but also the seals and the sharks. I think the fishermen should do some research and get some numbers to give to the government to show them how serious the problem is getting. For instance, if the Act did get looked at again they could protect the fishermen’s livelihood and give the sharks a reason to leave Cape Cod beaches.
http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/06/19898498-sharks-flock-to-cape-cod-but-fishermen-fear-the-seals?lite
Payton makes a very good point stating that the government should review the Acts that were placed. I feel as if also that the environment is very out of balance and needs to be fixed. So we know that the fisherman feel as if the sharks are not the problem, it is the seals that are. The seals are eating all the fish before the fisherman even have a chance to catch them for themselves. It may be a problem to the fisherman but I think that the seals need to be able to live their lives in peace without people trying to harm them just because they want fish... In my opinion that is not right so it will be best for the government to really step in and prove this the right way.
ReplyDeleteI think the laws should be reviewed and changed. The seals should be able to eat their share of fish without disturbing the fishing economy of the area. I don't think the government should view any animal as "too cute" to change the way it deals with them when it's needed to help the people.
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