Not surprisingly, the bold behavior hasn't made the seals very popular among African fishermen. They blame the seals for reducing their catches of anchovies, hake, and other economically important fish. Indeed, when Namibia last year announced it was doubling the size of its annual fur seal hunt, allowing 67,000 seals to be killed, it said protecting fisheries was a major reason. They eat fish and lots of it. The proliferation of seals in Namibian waters poses a threat to the fishing industry.
Seals consume many noncommercial species of fish.
Scientists, however, say the relationship between seals and fishing is more complicated than it seems. None dispute that seals eat lots of fish. But much of their diet is made up of noncommercial species. In addition, it appears that the seals may actually help some commercial species thrive. In the 1980s and 1990s, for instance, South African scientists studied the impact that seals might have on populations of hake, a popular food fish.