There were two specific recommendations about seal science in a new DFO report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans for March 2023 which is chaired by Ken McDonald, Liberal MP for Avalon.
One is they suggested scientists conduct diet analysis for all species of seals and their genetic cousins over longer periods of the year in more diverse regions than in the past and make their data publicly available by posting it on the DFO website.
The other is that scientists compare data from countries with similar species of pinnipeds to accurately assess what seals eat and when to more accurately gauge mortality levels in fish stock biomass.
One of those from Atlantic Canada making a presentation to the committee was Newfoundlander Bob Hardy, a fisheries consultant, who told the committee DFO was reluctant to accept the idea that seals were affecting fish stocks, and ignored evidence from fishers, Indigenous peoples and seal science from other North Atlantic fishing nations.
Read the final report here