Seal pups suffer poor ice conditions again

Poor ice conditions will take a heavy toll on seal pups in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence again this year, with thousands likely to die.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans biologist Mike Hammill took a helicopter tour of the Gulf this week. Hammill said the ice pans upon which the seals give birth are small, making it difficult for them to nurse their young.

He expects as many as half the pups born in Atlantic Canada could be lost.

"Probably what has come into the Gulf is probably very high mortality," he said.

"How it affects the whole herd, you know — is it going to be 50 per cent overall? It's hard to say."

This is the second consecutive year of poor ice conditions in the Gulf, but Hammill is not concerned about the overall health of the herd. New survey results show there are an estimated 9 million harp seals in Atlantic Canada.

"We're dealing with a very healthy resource, but we've run into a couple of bad years so it's something to watch," he said. "I think we're still in good shape."

If the warming trend continues, said Hammill, the seals may adapt and begin to have their pups further north.

"What we will probably see is a shift in distribution," he said.

"Instead of seeing animals in the southern Gulf, maybe we'll start to see a shift towards the northern Gulf, and then a shift towards more animals giving birth off the Labrador coast."

Fisheries Minister Gail Shea has not yet set the total allowable catch limit for this year's seal hunt. Last year it was 330,000 seals, but DFO said only 20 per cent of that was caught.