Seals are capitalizing on the upheaval caused by the weekend storm that hit Atlantic Canada to raid fishing traps they couldn't reach earlier.

'They'll stick their heads in the hoop of the opening and pull the bait out of the trap.' —Ted Williston, fisherman

Ted Williston, a veteran New Brunswick ice fisherman, said he was hoping to use the winter weather to give him a break from the growing number of seals in the area.

Many fishermen set up shelters on the ice so they can catch smelt and other fish.

Seals cannot travel far under the ice, so fishermen try to avoid the animals by setting their shelters far away from their normal feeding areas.

But the fierce storm that swept through the region on the weekend broke up the ice along the coast, making it possible for seals to travel to areas they couldn't reach before.

Not only are the seals feasting on more fish, Williston said they are also destroying expensive pieces of fishing gear.

"What happened in this last storm, which broke up the ice that we were setting on, now the seals have a chance to have breathing holes that they can get at our nets there now, that's what's going on," Williston said.

He said the seals can slice through fishing nets with their sharp teeth to sample mackerel, herring, smelt or whatever the fishermen are catching.

Williston said he has lost several nets because of the seals and each net costs him $1,800 and takes him three weeks to fix.

Lobster traps are also not immune to being raided by seals, according to Williston. "They'll stick their heads in the hoop of the opening and pull the bait out of the trap," he said.

Growing numbers of seals

Fishermen along the Northumberland Strait and Gulf of St. Lawrence are fighting to keep their smelt and mackerel away from even more seals.

Mike Hammill, a seal expert with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said the number of grey seals has gone from about 20,000 in the 1970s to more than 300,000 in the gulf region.

"For the seals' perspective, it's a success story," Hammill said. "For the interaction with the fishermen, it's obviously not a success story and it is a problem for fishermen."

The big male grey seals can weigh 400 kilograms and are the size of a large cow, he said.