Lerwick SEALS and fishing

Historically, in Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, has been very close to the world of fishing. The island economy is based on fishing, so that in their ports can see many fishing boats and fish markets.

When the fishing boats come to port a bunch of seals close to the fishermen because they throw the fish they don’t want. This situation leads us to reflect:

1-The seals feed on benthic fishes and occasionally on crustaceans and cephalopods. To hunt these animals have a strong teeth, so we can say that they are naturally prepared to seek and obtain their food. The influence of man has caused the imbalance of ecosystems, and the habits of species is changing. For example, in the case of seals, if they feed on benthic and fish due to fishing, they disappear, the seals are forced to seek food in other ways. If the effort to get food is less, it is clear that fishing will cease, thus changing their habits.

2-There are so many years that humans began to raise fish in cages, tanks or cells, as with other animals. In Scotland we can see more of these “farms” and some of these seals, cormorants… with the intention of eating fish. Faced with this situation many farmers shoot these animals, according to 3000 statistics in this way seals are killed every year in Scotland.

3 – Through the trawling, are caught many fishes that  have little value in the market. Upon reaching port, the fishermen throw them into the sea that have surplus or those who can not get performance. It is estimated that each year are thrown in the sea between 18 and 40 million tonnes, FAO said 27 million tonnes.