The Fish, Food, and Allied Workers Union is calling on the federal government to take immediate action to control the seal population in an effort to protect vulnerable cod stocks on the south coast and Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The FFAW says the most recent stock assessment showed that extinction of the Gulf cod population is highly probable because of grey seal predation.

The union says a “domino effect” is now working its way up the coast with seal predation threatening cod stocks on the south coast of Newfoundland and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence up to the Northern Peninsula.

FFAW Secretary Treasurer, David Decker, says we’re at the point where three cod stocks in Atlantic Canada may go extinct as a direct result of natural mortality – mainly caused by seal predation.

He says Ottawa’s lack of action is being felt by fish harvesters and coastal communities.