(Response to a CTV News report that our Govt. is considering a proposal to cull --ie. KILL-- harmless local wild harbour seals & sea lions to 'balance' wildlife populations here in Vancouver BC --BC.CTVNEWS/CommercialSealHunt )
Govt. should be advised to heed this article by one of Raincoast.org's expert conservationists:
https://www.raincoast.org/2019/02/seals-and-sea-lions-in-the-salish-sea-are-all-part-of-a-healthy-food-web/
In other words, 'CULLING' or 'HARVESTING' a key link in an important food chain, in this case a food source of transient killer whales as well as predators of chinook predators, would more likely DISRUPT the balance of a key food chain --if not result in fewer not more wild Chinook salmon, with more not fewer predators created..
With extinction threatening countless wild species worldwide due to climate change/ poaching by humans, we should not be considering such baseless proposals as this heinous bid by the so-called 'Pinniped Society' to KILL the very species they claim to study in exclusivity!? In fact I strongly suggest ANY group that recommends slaughtering our native wildlife be investigated -- and, if necessary, charged with fraud or conspiracy to sabotage our precious wildlife populations, which these days need all the help they can get to simply survive..
On what basis do we count existence of wildlife among us to be anything but a blessing?
TOURISM is one of BC's best employers of the future; tourists flock here for the chance to experience our native wild species in their natural habitats, which we Canadians are proud to protect as their stewards - as written in our Constitution. Our Govts need to support the more sustainable path of stewardship of healthy diversity --along with protecting wildlife habitats from polluting development..
Haven't we learned WE are the only species driving Extinction, by allowing UNSUSTAINABLE commercial HARVESTING --ie. REAPING WITHOUT SOWING (REPLENISHING) NATURE's abundance-- without taking due care to ensure their continued regeneration? People aRe realizating we NEED to keep Nature's ecosystems healthy & whole --to eat Organic grains, nuts + seeds as well as fruit + vegetables to be healthy ourselves. We don'T need to support Culling/ Deforestation/ Overfishing/ Ocean acidification/ pollution for sustenance, which are proven factors driving climate change, GHGs & global warming. This essential knowledge, however, hasn't led to changes that restore the requisite balance of healthy ecosystems: rather, we're still supporting the businesses/ industries/ processes/ products furthering the eco-destruction that's killing us!
Alternatives --solutions-- to existing polluting ops are developed constantly to meet the urgent imperatives demanded by science (eg. to curtail fossil-fuel use, reduce GHGs/pollution, stop deforestation eTc.) But progress is negatively impacted --if not sabotaged-- by existing processes --let alone new projects being proposed-- that fail to meet the need for sustainability going forward: that Govts. even consider new projects that necessitate destruction of Nature + wildlife habitats is NOT in our best interests!
Forcing ordinary people to suffer while their needs are siphoned into the unsustainable luxury lifestyles of their self-appointed saboteurs is wholly UNACCEPTABLE!
The only way to evolve out of this 'Climate Crisis' is to protect the delicate balance of Nature --ie. LEAVE INTACT old-growth forests & the wild ecosystems that took centuries if not millennia to balance.. and of course, correct the calamitous human-caused CRIMES against Nature (like CULLING, fossil-fuel extraction & OVER-FISHING) to REVERSE/ SLOW their predicted dire effects on all living species..
Yet our Govts still choose to ignore the OBVIOUS science --along with overwhelming evidence (eg. GHGs)-- of the UNSUSTAINABLE path we're on, led like lemmings by same-old status-quo polluting wasteful ways-- to the point where if we don't transition NOW into non-destructive, renewable + sustainable sources in all sectors & PROTECT essential ecosystems from Extinction, our own Extinction invariably follows..
(Watching a world leader petulantly insisting on building a pointless WALL to keep out people, instead of joining forces to solve this dire global dilemma, is almost as tragic as watching our own Govt consider CULLING SEALS/ SEA LIONS: I can't stand having to relaunch this sickeningly familiar fight, one which my mom & I fought hard for 10 yrs --with + without orgs like PETA-- & FAILED each year to #StopTheSealHunt, despite joining campaigns as big as 500,000 supporters!?)
With my mom gone (she died Aug. 2017) I am MORE determined than ever to stop barbaric culling --esp. the grossly inhumane Commercial Seal Hunt, the largest slaughter of marine mammals on Earth-- forever..
Conservationists agree CULLING IS NEVER THE ANSWER --because humans are always the problem! It's OUR ways that need to change, not those of innocent animals just being themselves + struggling to live in a harsh human-dominated world.. They deserve the chance to live their lives free from human dangers/ interference..
Govt. should be advised to heed this article by one of Raincoast.org's expert conservationists:
https://www.raincoast.org/2019/02/seals-and-sea-lions-in-the-salish-sea-are-all-part-of-a-healthy-food-web/
In other words, 'CULLING' or 'HARVESTING' a key link in an important food chain, in this case a food source of transient killer whales as well as predators of chinook predators, would more likely DISRUPT the balance of a key food chain --if not result in fewer not more wild Chinook salmon, with more not fewer predators created..
With extinction threatening countless wild species worldwide due to climate change/ poaching by humans, we should not be considering such baseless proposals as this heinous bid by the so-called 'Pinniped Society' to KILL the very species they claim to study in exclusivity!? In fact I strongly suggest ANY group that recommends slaughtering our native wildlife be investigated -- and, if necessary, charged with fraud or conspiracy to sabotage our precious wildlife populations, which these days need all the help they can get to simply survive..
On what basis do we count existence of wildlife among us to be anything but a blessing?
TOURISM is one of BC's best employers of the future; tourists flock here for the chance to experience our native wild species in their natural habitats, which we Canadians are proud to protect as their stewards - as written in our Constitution. Our Govts need to support the more sustainable path of stewardship of healthy diversity --along with protecting wildlife habitats from polluting development..
Haven't we learned WE are the only species driving Extinction, by allowing UNSUSTAINABLE commercial HARVESTING --ie. REAPING WITHOUT SOWING (REPLENISHING) NATURE's abundance-- without taking due care to ensure their continued regeneration? People aRe realizating we NEED to keep Nature's ecosystems healthy & whole --to eat Organic grains, nuts + seeds as well as fruit + vegetables to be healthy ourselves. We don'T need to support Culling/ Deforestation/ Overfishing/ Ocean acidification/ pollution for sustenance, which are proven factors driving climate change, GHGs & global warming. This essential knowledge, however, hasn't led to changes that restore the requisite balance of healthy ecosystems: rather, we're still supporting the businesses/ industries/ processes/ products furthering the eco-destruction that's killing us!
Alternatives --solutions-- to existing polluting ops are developed constantly to meet the urgent imperatives demanded by science (eg. to curtail fossil-fuel use, reduce GHGs/pollution, stop deforestation eTc.) But progress is negatively impacted --if not sabotaged-- by existing processes --let alone new projects being proposed-- that fail to meet the need for sustainability going forward: that Govts. even consider new projects that necessitate destruction of Nature + wildlife habitats is NOT in our best interests!
Forcing ordinary people to suffer while their needs are siphoned into the unsustainable luxury lifestyles of their self-appointed saboteurs is wholly UNACCEPTABLE!
The only way to evolve out of this 'Climate Crisis' is to protect the delicate balance of Nature --ie. LEAVE INTACT old-growth forests & the wild ecosystems that took centuries if not millennia to balance.. and of course, correct the calamitous human-caused CRIMES against Nature (like CULLING, fossil-fuel extraction & OVER-FISHING) to REVERSE/ SLOW their predicted dire effects on all living species..
Yet our Govts still choose to ignore the OBVIOUS science --along with overwhelming evidence (eg. GHGs)-- of the UNSUSTAINABLE path we're on, led like lemmings by same-old status-quo polluting wasteful ways-- to the point where if we don't transition NOW into non-destructive, renewable + sustainable sources in all sectors & PROTECT essential ecosystems from Extinction, our own Extinction invariably follows..
(Watching a world leader petulantly insisting on building a pointless WALL to keep out people, instead of joining forces to solve this dire global dilemma, is almost as tragic as watching our own Govt consider CULLING SEALS/ SEA LIONS: I can't stand having to relaunch this sickeningly familiar fight, one which my mom & I fought hard for 10 yrs --with + without orgs like PETA-- & FAILED each year to #StopTheSealHunt, despite joining campaigns as big as 500,000 supporters!?)
With my mom gone (she died Aug. 2017) I am MORE determined than ever to stop barbaric culling --esp. the grossly inhumane Commercial Seal Hunt, the largest slaughter of marine mammals on Earth-- forever..
Conservationists agree CULLING IS NEVER THE ANSWER --because humans are always the problem! It's OUR ways that need to change, not those of innocent animals just being themselves + struggling to live in a harsh human-dominated world.. They deserve the chance to live their lives free from human dangers/ interference..
Fanny Bay, BC
