Concerns over increase in Narooma seals
by Recreational Fishing Alliance of NSW 28 Feb 2023 15:27 PST
Photo at the Apex Park fish cleaning table by Narooma Sport and Gamefishing Club publicity officer Jan Hemmingsen © RFA of NSW
Fur seals have long been promoted as a tourist attraction around the Eurobodalla but there are growing concerns that the increasing population is becoming a problem.
Once mainly found on Montague Island, the seals are now frequently seen on the mainland and the community in Wagonga Inlet is now around 80 and growing.
For local anglers, this has been disastrous, with the seals having a major impact on the fish in the Inlet. Jewfish and big breeding flathead that DPI and local anglers have worked to preserve are being decimated. The penguin population on Montague Island is also under threat as many are being killed by the seals.
NPWS seems keen to see seal numbers grow; Montague Island has been recognised as an important breeding site since 2011. There are thought to be about 3,000 seals on the island. That's great for tourist boats to see, but it doesn't work so well when there is interaction between humans and seals when they come into Wagonga Inlet. They hang around the fish cleaning tables and boat ramp at Apex Park, which earlier this month had to be closed because they were a nuisance to people, with one person attacked and suffering a bad leg wound. Locals are concerned that naive tourists will attempt to feed them and get badly injured.