While seals are abundant, rough wind and seas are making trouble for Northern Peninsula sealers

NORTHERN PENINSULA, NL – Sealers across the Great Northern Peninsula are well into the spring hunt. 

Port au Choix harvester Clifford Dobbin was out on his 45’ longliner for 12 days, but with continuous rough weather he said there were only four good days for sealing.  

He packed up his gear last Wednesday, April 18 with 850 seals, and is now getting ready for the crab fishery. 

“If the weather had cooperated we could’ve had a couple thousand seals,” said Dobbin. “But the weather was horrible so we just called it off.” 

While there were some seals in the gulf of St. Lawrence, Dobbin mainly hunted in the Strait of Belle Isle area where both the ice and seals were plentiful. 

Dobbin has been a sealer since 1978. He says the decline in the seal hunt is noticeable with the sight of elderly seals much more common. 

“I don’t remember any spring where we didn’t go sealing; even when the market collapsed we were still out there,” Dobbin said. “But the price is not good anymore, and with the animal rights and everything keeping the markets down there’s not so much interest.” 

Sealer Dave Patey of St. Anthony Bight says the price could be better but there are thousands of seals around this year.  

“They’re plentiful,” said Patey. “We seen 18 seals on one pan, that’s something I’ve never seen before.” 

But like Dobbin, rough weather has been a major obstacle for Patey. The recent April 9 snowstorm brought 43-cm of snow and over 130-km winds to areas such as St. Anthony. Many boats have tied off along the Strait of Belle Isle in places like St. Anthony or Cook’s Harbour to wait out the high winds and rough seas. 

Patey says he has caught 800 seals so far out of the four good days they’ve had, and plans to keep at it until mid-May, or until the ice clears from the 3K region. 

“We’ll keep at it, so long as the ice is here and the seals are here why not,” he said. “We won’t switch over to the crab so long as ice is coming up over our crab grounds.” 

On the eastern side of the Northern Peninsula, Conche sealer Paul Hunt has taken his speedboat to hunt along the Grey Islands. Hunt says there has not been much ice in that area and he had hoped there would be more. 

Through his 10-mile travels from Conche to the Grey Islands, Hunt has so far caught around 300 seals and plans to make a few more trips out there. While the seals are not as prominent as in the Belle Isle area, Hunt still says it’s been a decent year for the seal hunt. 

“Because we’re in speed boat the first bit of ice we come across we hang around it,” said Hunt. “So we don’t see the main body of them, but they say there’s a lot out there this year.” 
 
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