Abstract
Competition between Kuril harbor seals (Phoca vitulina stejnegeri) and salmon set-net fishing industries has become a serious problem with the recent increase in the number of seals in Erimo, Hokkaido, Japan. We aimed to understand the detailed dietary structure of Kuril harbor seals focusing on intraspecific differences and verify whether “problem seals” who habitually use salmon set-nets could be characterized by intrinsic factors such as sex and maturity. We estimated the diet of Kuril harbor seals in two fishing seasons using DNA barcoding diet analysis on colon contents and verified intraspecific differences in their diet. In spring, their diets showed different tendencies between maturity stage; each adult seal fed on different prey items, suggesting that they avoid the intraspecies competition over food during the breeding season. Additionally, it was implied that some adult females habitually stole from salmon set-nets. Our dietary analysis showed dietary changes of Kuril harbor seals with different tendencies depending on maturity or sex, suggesting that problem individuals who habitually use set-nets can be characterized by intrinsic factors. This detailed dietary information can offer an accurate assessment of seal predation effects on fishing targets and the selective management of Kuril harbor seals, especially in mitigating seal–commercial fishery conflicts.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Not applicable.
Change history
19 August 2021
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-021-00592-5
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Acknowledgements
We are deeply grateful to the Erimo Seal Club, Erimo Fisherman’s Cooperative, Erimo Town Office, the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and the members of Laboratory of Aquatic Wild Life Management, Tokyo University of Agriculture, for their support during our fieldwork and their efforts to collect samples. We are also grateful to the members of Kita Laboratory, Tokai University, Mr. K. Nakano and the Bioengineering Lab. Co., Ltd., for assisting in DNA analysis. The authors would like to thank MARUZEN-YUSHODO Co., Ltd. (https://kw.maruzen.co.jp/kousei-honyaku/) for the English language editing. We are also grateful for two anonymous reviewers; their comments greatly contributed to improving this study.
Funding
This study is partly supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI Grant Number 15H05709 and 16KT0140.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by MJ, YFK, MK, and YM. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MJ and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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All harbor seal samples were collected as part of a project conducted by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, under the Erimo Area Kuril Harbor Seal Specified Rare Wildlife Management Plan.
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The original online version of this article was revised: The results in Figure 5 has been corrected.
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Jimbo, M., Kita, Y.F., Kobayashi, M. et al. Intraspecific differences in the diet of Kuril harbor seals (Phoca vitulina stejnegeri) in Erimo, Hokkaido, using DNA barcoding diet analysis. Mamm Res 66, 553–563 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-021-00586-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-021-00586-3