Abstract

Growing seal populations are examples of successful marine management, and the seals are often seen as a symbol of a thriving ecosystem. However, seals are well known to interact with local small-scale fisheries by feeding from the gears. This causes both lost catches and broken gear, which negatively affect the economic viability of the small-scale fisheries. While lost catches are known to be substantial, no information is currently available on costs for mending gear, searching for fishing grounds with less seals, etc. This article estimates these costs from a questionnaire sent to Swedish fishers. The total cost due to seals for small-scale fisheries is about (sic)690 000, which corresponds to 7% of the expenditure for purchased goods (not labour and capital). The total time spent on seal-related work corresponds to rs, similar to 8% of total working time. Combining additional costs with revenue losses due to decreased catches, it is shown that the economic viability of the small-scale fisheries becomes low due to the seal interaction, which affects the economic and social sustainability of the sector.

Keywords

fisheries; marine mammals; seal

Published in

ICES Journal of Marine Science
2020, Volume: 77, number: 2, pages: 815-825

SLU Authors

• Waldo, Staffan

  • Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Blomquist, Johan

  • Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development


UKÄ Subject classification

Fish and Aquacultural Science
Economics


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz221

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/104790