Ice conditions haven't been this poor since DFO started keeping records 40 years ago. a : a person or thing that stops or prevents something usually used in combination crime -busters people who stop crimes, who catch criminals, etc. He said it's the first time scientists ever have seen seals giving birth north of Groswater Bay on Labrador's coast. 'I just suppose it just reflects the ice conditions that we've had over the last 60 years,' said Stenson.

'We have data going back to the 1950s, and we had never seen seals that far north,' said Stenson. Some have been spotted having pups as far as Makkovik, northern Labrador. That means seals are going further north than usual to whelp. Garry Stenson, the head of DFO's marine mammal section, said that south of the Strait of Belle Isle, between Newfoundland and southern Labrador, there's virtually no ice for seals to have their pups on. Ice cover lackingįederal Fisheries department officials say sealers are likely to see conditions they've never seen before. This season's quota is slightly over 380,000 seals, an increase of 50,000 from last year, but it's not expected to be fully taken. ' usually clear up somewhere around probably $5,000 for a start, for the summer, so it's a good start,' said Bath. Quota definition: A quota is the limited number or quantity of something which is officially allowed. Bath said he'd miss the money he usually makes from the hunt. For the first spring in 27 years, Twillingate resident Tom Bath is not going sealing. Other sealers haven't had the same success.

Quota buster meaning