Fishing industry denies seal-slaughter role

VICTORIA’S commercial fishing industry today moved to distance itself from the “sickening slaughter” of more than 40 protected fur seals in a Victorian national park.

RSPCA president Hugh Wirth said he had no doubt the industry was involved in the killings, which were aimed at reducing the seals’ impact on lucrative fisheries. The animals, which are the world’s fourth rarest seal species, were shot on Wednesday on Kanowna Island, off Wilsons Promontory, in south-east Victoria.