Culling Fishermen rather than Seals

This past week there was a letter to the editor of the Comox Valley Record suggesting that rather than culling seals that kill salmon, we ought to cull commercial fishermen. The support for this argument was a story told to her by her father, a manager of a fish packer, of a crew of commercial fishermen who had dumped a load of salmon into the ocean due to their improper icing. My reply was that such an incident was exceptional and not typical. I wrote that I was married to a Sointula fisherman for 20 years and lived in that small village for as many years. I said that in all my years of hearing more than my fair share of "fish stories" I had never heard such a tale. I said, that commercial fishing is a hard way to make a living, and that my son is currently earning his living as a fisherman and trying to save up money for his tuition at university by doing so. I stated that the elevation of seals above fellow human beings is something I just don't get.

Photo Credit: Darryl Millar.