Decapitated Sea Lions on Land Tell of a War on the Water.

In 2019, the Animal Alliance of Canada obtained documents indicating that an organization calling itself the Pacific Pinniped Balance Society, now known as Pacific Balance Marine Management (PBMM) was planning to lobby the government to start an annual seal and sea lion harvest off the coast of Vancouver Island. 

This document stated that initially they would kill upwards of 50,000 pinnipeds to drastically reduce the population with rifles, clubs, and crossbows. Then they planned on starting an annual harvest of thousands of animals a year for overseas markets.  In response, Animal Alliance of Canada started a campaign and a petition to raise awareness and oppose this seal slaughter on the west coast of Canada after the broad condemnation of the eastern seal hunt.  The petition, which is directed at the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Bernadette Jordan, currently has nearly 25,000 signatures in opposition to the proposed pinniped slaughter.

Despite not receiving approval for their plan of a harvest through the DFO, the PBMM has continued to encourage the mass killing of seals and sea lions on their Facebook page.  Recently, decapitated sea lion bodies have been washing up on the coast including in Nanaimo, Lantzville and Campbell river.  In a post on the page by their president, Tom Sewid, regarding the decapitated sea lions, he pleaded with the anonymous killer, “Okay sea lion head hunter, you’re going to screw things up big-time for all if you don’t clean up your harvesting properly!”

Jordan Reichert of the Animal Alliance of Canada condemned the clandestine killing taking place and likely causing tremendous suffering to the animals.

“Right now, there is an unscientific, unregulated, and undocumented mass slaughter of seals and sea lion taking place in the Salish Sea.  All we know is that people are being encouraged by this group to kill as many of these animals as they can before the public backlash forces the government to step in.  Seals and sea lions are undoubtably suffering and these people seem to think that is a joke. We are calling on the DFO to take action.”

Last year, a video was posted to the PBMM Facebook page of a man throwing a “bear banger” noise-making explosive device into a raft of sea lions.  The individual was later charged for disturbing marine mammals. 

Numerous scientists have spoken out publicly against the PBMM proposal including: David Suzuki, Dr. Andrew Trites Director of Marine Mammal Research at UBC, and Dr. Peter Ross of the Vancouver Aquarium. 

Seal and sea lion populations had been significantly reduced down to about ten percent of their current population in the 1970’s due to hunting by fisherman.  After the government stepped in to stop the hunting, populations have gradually increased and levelled off to pre-hunting levels.  Pinnipeds are an important part of the transient orca populations diet and a significant reduction in their population would likely have a negative effect on other species and the ecosystem.

“The evidence shows that a seal harvest on the west coast is a terrible idea for marine life and the ecosystem that is already compromised due to overfishing. We need to make sure this human-made disaster never happens.” 

Victoria Animal News