Hungry Seals Invade Norwegian Fiords in Search of Food, Sparking Fishing Dispute

As many as 300,000 hungry seals have invaded the fiords of Norway’s coast in search of food, competing with local fishermen and fouling their nets.

Environmentalists say they are concerned about the extraordinary invasion but not all are in agreement on the reason for it.

The seals came thousands of miles to northern Norway from their normal areas in the Arctic ice masses east of Iceland or from north of the Soviet Union.

Environmentalists say about 30,000 have died in fishing nets, causing an estimated $2 million worth of damage to fishermen’s gear and cutting down their catches.

Unchecked Overfishing

Only about 4,300 seals were reported in the area last year. Conservationists and fishermen blame each other for what has happened.

The conservationists claim the seal invasion is a result of unchecked overfishing over many years.

“It is obvious that the seals have come to the coast of Norway because they have not found enough food in the areas where they normally live,” said Karl Inne Ugland, a researcher at Oslo University.

“Examination of dead seals has shown that many of them are quite emaciated when coming to Norway,” said Odd Nakken, director of the Ocean Research Institute in Bergen.

But fishermen say the environmentalists went too far in demanding a halt to seal hunting over the last 10 years.

Seal Hunting Urged

“Misinformation by conservationists about sealing, which led almost to the end of seal hunting, has permitted seals to multiply freely,” said Einar Hepsoe, chairman of the Norwegian Fishermen’s Assn.

Some conservationists agree with him.

“Controlled sealing (hunting) can cut fishermen’s economic loss and reduce unnecessary suffering by the animals,” said Thorbjoern Paulsen of the Society for the Preservation of Nature.

The World Wildlife Fund said in a statement here that it would not object to limited seal hunting “if it is a question of harvesting a natural surplus of sound and viable stocks.”

Similar Seal Invasion

The sharply curtailed quotas for seal hunters stemming from environmentalists’ campaigns have made it difficult for the hunters to meet their costs and the result has been fewer hunting expeditions.

The five Norwegian seal-hunting ships now out among the Arctic ice floes are expected to return with a catch of about 15,000 after a seven-week season.

Nakken of the Ocean Research Institute said a similar seal invasion of Norwegian waters came in 1903, long before modern fishing methods could have depleted the natural stock of ocean fish.

He maintained that the large number of seals invading this year “must primarily be linked to an increase of their number, and only slightly to an eventual reduction of the fish reserves.”