Un comité du Sénat a proposé mardi que l'on réduise la population de phoques gris de 70 000 individus en quatre ans dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent, pour préserver les stocks de poisson de fond.

Le Comité des pêches et des océans du Sénat demande dans un rapport que cette opération soit exécutée "sans cruauté" par des chasseurs qualifiés et dûment indemnisés par l'Etat, sous la surveillance d'observateurs en mer.

Dans l'est du Canada, la population totale de phoques gris est passée de quelque 13.000 individus en 1960, à un chiffre situé entre 330 000 et 410 000 en 2010, dont 104 000 dans le sud du golfe du Saint-Laurent, relève le Comité.

Persuadés que la prédation du phoque nuit au rétablissement des stocks de poisson, les sénateurs proposent donc un plan d'action pour protéger en premier lieu la morue atlantique, la plus touchée.

"Les stocks de morue sont si bas que le Comité sur la situation des espèces en péril au Canada l'a désignée comme étant en voie de disparition", a déclaré la sénatrice Elizabeth Hubley, vice-présidente du Comité.

Outre le phoque gris, plus de 5 millions de phoques du Groenland vivent dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent et la façade atlantique du Canada.

Le chasse au phoque a suscité pendant plusieurs années des protestations de défenseurs des animaux, conduisant l'Union européenne à imposer à partir de 2010 un embargo sur les produits dérivés de ce mammifère marin, au grand dam des Canadiens et des Norvégiens.

Ces dernières années, des chercheurs américains ont signalé un autre problème risquant d'affecter cette population: les bébés phoques sont très nombreux à périr au large de la côte est du Canada en raison de l'absence de glaces, leur habitat naturel.

MISE EN GARDE

Des images choc de la chasse aux phoques compilées par nos collègues du HuffPost Canada
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