In the 1994 amendments, lethal take at aquaculture sites was prohibited. Some of these losses were escapes caused by seals making a hole in the net, and in others, salmon have been eaten through the nets. The Task force could not determine the extent of losses caused by seals when they submitted their report in 1996, and there is no information about the extent of losses due to seals since 1996. The industry has responded by double netting pens or pen sites, and using sound generators to keep seals away from pen sites. Most of the damage and escapes caused by seals has been in February and March.
Seals eat a variety of fish species . . .
Harbor seals eat a variety of fish, generally those that are schooling species or bottom species. The most recent food habits study for seals along the coast was at Grand Manan in 1992. Atlantic herring, Atlantic cod, squid, winter flounder, alewife, and hake were the most common food items. In the off-shore Gulf of Maine, hake were the most common food item found in 75 harbor seals. Atlantic salmon were not found in either study.