There is no objective evidence tying harp seals to the decline of the cod fishery. It was a theory clearly advanced to give new life to an industry that was weak and declining, and to explain impact created by commercial over-fishing.

I have never been a commercial fisherman and don't claim to be an expert on that kind of fishing. I have fished on the ocean and underneath the surface and I ate what I took. Perhaps Canadians in the Maritimes need to more fully understand the meaning of the term "finite resource". When a plentiful and renewable resource, such as cod, is exploited to the point where its own renewal is in jeopardy, then the methods and controls that lead to such a state need to be examined in reality, and such bogus claims as the collapse being caused by seals is a detriment to finding and solving the actual problem. Did seals also cause the collapse of the Atlantic halibut, North Sea herring, Argentinian hake, and the Australian Murray River cod fisheries? No, just like the Grand Banks cod, overfishing did. Ask Unilever, one of the largest commercial purchasers of frozen fish products. In 1997, in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund and under concern that fisheries were collapsing at an uncontrollable rate, Unilever helped establish the Marine Stewardship Council to study causes and solutions.

It is a joke to blame seals for the slow recovery of cod stocks. Humans and seals coexisted for hundreds of years around Newfoundland, and the cod fishery was not much affected by seals or the environment. Obviously, the seal consumption of cod will look large relative to the total cod stock if the cod biomass is reduced to abysmally low levels by the fishery - Dr Daniel Pauly Science Magazine

Thanks Peace for calling me a "good guy". I don't think I'm particularly tender hearted. I have no problem with hunting as a means of culling wildlife populations. But I can't equate the seal slaughter to a hunt. Where is the sport in shooting a 2 week old seal pup on an ice floe, bashing in its skull, and peeling off the pelt to sell to Jonny Versace for a fashionable vest?

As to my statement that seals don't take cod, I would clarify that to say that seals food of choice is the larger marine predators that prey on small cod and hatchlings that are the renewal source for the industry, and these predators do include large cod.