324 DISCUSSION 



The real problem can be put in perspective only by considering the annual 

 total offish consumed by other predators. There is also competition within 

 the fishing industry. The entrance to a river which it is claimed is robbed of 

 salmon by seals, is frequently 'closed' by drift nets which are very successful 

 at catching salmon before they enter the estuary. 



J. Morton Boyd: No confidence can be placed in any numerical 

 estimates of British seal populations. In the Western and Northern Isles of 

 Scotland there seems to have been an increase in grey seals, and new colonies 

 have been estabhshed. This has been accompanied by a decline of local 

 sealing industry. 



It seems to me that, due to the economic implications, much more import- 

 ance is being attached to the percentage of salmon taken or damaged than 

 to the percentage of other species — which yet make up the overwhelming 

 bulk of the grey seal's diet around Britain. Clearly a very small proportion 

 of the grey seal population is associated with the salmon problem. By far 

 the largest numbers of seals in the Western Isles, in my experience, are 

 inshore feeders on rocky coasts, where they probably take saithe, lythe, and 

 Crustacea. Attempts are being made to obtain stomach analyses. 



J. DE B. Stansfeld: For twenty-five years I have been concerned with 

 salmon fisheries. The figures we have had presented to us today are all very 

 well, but they contain a large element of guess-work. Day-to-day observa- 

 tions of the actual animals remain of fundamental importance. I would like 

 to emphasize that we handle annually an appalling number of fish which 

 are marketable but are cut and lacerated and so of much lower value. This 

 kind of damage affects a very high proportion of the catch. Secondly, 

 emphasis has been laid on seals catching salmon near net fisheries and 

 damaging nets. But seal kill salmon in places miles away from net fisheries. 



H. R. Hewer: I would Hke to emphasize the complete uselessness 

 of many of the figures which have been presented to us. A lot of them 

 are not estimates: they are not even 'guesstimates'. The idea that numbers 

 were below 500 in 1916 was just an idea, and was brought forward in 

 connection with the Act. When Ritchie said that the population was 4,000- 

 5,000 it was quite impossible for him to know the total even approximately. 

 Lockley 's 20,000 is little better : the figure is a compilation which is in many 

 cases based on single brief visits to locahties. The inaccuracy of such rough 

 estimates may be shown by our recent data from North Rona: on our 

 arrival we went briskly round the island and guessed a total figure. Later 

 careful census and marking showed this to be 40 per cent too low. There is 

 only one way of estimating reliably, and that is by determining the total 

 number o£ pups produced. (It is no use just going at the end of the season and 



