Do seals eat. Seal hunting and seal meat delicacies can attract tourists to Baikal in winter

Here are some facts about these, at first glance, unsightly animals:

Walruses weigh from 700 to 1600 kilograms

Some especially large males can weigh even more - up to 2 tons. The largest live in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, while in the rest there are smaller species. The average life span of a walrus is about 40 years.

Walrus meat is deadly, but not for everyone

The fact is that the Eskimos are considered the real masters in the preparation of walrus dishes. Their recipe is as follows: a dead walrus carcass is buried in the ground until the corpse begins to ferment, and then the walrus can be dug up and eaten raw. In the local dialect, the dish is called igunak.

The local Eskimo got used to such food since childhood, and his body perceives such meat normally. And if a person is not prepared, then you don't even have to try. Everything can end in severe poisoning, infection, or even death.

Walruses eat shellfish

The walrus consumes up to 50 kg of shellfish per day. That's where it got 15cm of fat from! To find food for himself, he has to bury his tusks deep into the seabed. Soon hundreds of shells float to the surface of the water, where a walrus is already waiting for them.

The longer the walrus is in cold water, the lighter it is.

This is due to the fact that in cold water the vessels are narrowed. Therefore, young walruses are brown in color, while old ones, which have been in cold water for a long time, are almost pink in color.

The walrus has only 2 enemies

The most dangerous enemies of the walrus are killer whales and polar bears. Although a person sometimes poses for him at times the most terrible threat.

If a baby walrus is left without a mother, then another walrus will adopt it.

Yes, even if the mother dies, there will still be a female who will feed the cub until it gets stronger and grows its tusks to defend against attackers.

Walruses that live in captivity are left without tusks

No, they are not cut off by poachers, just following their instincts, the walrus begins to dig the smooth walls of the pool in search of food, so the tusks break.

Recall that earlier we wrote that

It may soon appear on the shelves of Russian stores and on the menu of restaurants. It is planned to start commercial production of these marine animals, which are considered a traditional food product among northern peoples. The Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography is developing nutritional standards from seal meat... However, experts, recognizing the recent increase in the number of marine animals, are not sure that the seal and seal meat will take root on our tables. The correspondent Marina Kostyukevich found out why.

Seals and seals can go for meat. This is just one of the ways to fill store shelves with domestic seafood. Now only a few northern peoples are engaged in fishing, but soon other fishing farms may also receive permits. The population of seals and seals is now high, and their voracity contributes to a significant decrease in the number of salmonids, says Georgy Martynov, president of the Association of Fisheries Enterprises in Primorye. But it is unlikely that the mass production of these pinnipeds can develop in the near future.

“Science must confirm, do research and determine how much sea animal needs to be hunted, who will do it, and only then start this process. a lot of animals have accumulated. And we see no harm to the population if we hunt for sea animals. "

Another question is how much such fresh meat will taste like. Most of us have a vague idea of ​​what a seal tastes like, considering it to be a cross between meat and fish. And it is very difficult to imagine offhand any of them. But, as experts of the Research Institute of Fisheries assure, cutlets, hot-smoked fillets and foodstuffs secondary forms. Georgy Martynov is not sure that it is worth diversifying the meat counters with such a novelty.

"The meat of the beast was never used for food, because at least, the Russian population. Not counting the residents of Chukotka, as it is included in their diet. How much will it be in demand in Russian stores? It is hardly necessary to rush to extremes. Previously, it was used to feed the fur-bearing animal. "

And not only that, adds naturalist journalist Alexander Khaburgaev. And talk about the popularity of seal and seal meat among northern peoples is too exaggerated.

“The Evenki, with whom we had to speak, said that this was never a traditional trade. Because the seal's meat is tasteless, the skin is bad. skins sew panels for tourists. "

The chances of getting accustomed to the menu of restaurants or on the shelves of the stores for the meat of seals and seals are minimal, continues Alexander Khaburgaev. Its specific taste is unusual for us.

“Everyone who has tried it says it’s disgusting. It gives off a lot of fish, since fish is the main food of seals. But before they were beaten in large quantities for fat, and the meat was thrown away. Even if they were taken to grocery stores for free ... famous culinary skills and art, seasonings, etc. you will eat it. By the way, about 30 years ago they sold whale stew. All this was not in demand, for the product to become traditional, you need a habit. "

Experts say that in the desire to fill the counters of meat and fish stores with protein products, one should still focus more on something more digestible for our stomach. In the case of seafood, it is better to arrange the supply of fish. If there is enough of it and the prices are not astronomical, it will not be necessary to look for a replacement for it among sea animals.

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In Russia, industrial production of seals and seals may begin - the authorities are trying to fill store shelves with domestic seafood. WG wrote about this the other day. The Baikal endemic seal also runs the risk of getting from the waters of Lake Baikal to the consumer's table - the meat of young seals is quite edible, it doesn't smell as fishy as it does on adults.

Experts gathered at a round table in Irkutsk on November 25 to answer the question - Is it worth it to extract the Baikal seal on an industrial scale for these purposes? This issue has gained particular relevance now, when the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography began to develop standards for food products from seal meat - we are talking about minced meat, semi-finished products, pate, canned food and hot smoked products.

The number of seals on Lake Baikal is now quite large - about 100 thousand heads, says Boris Ditsevich, senior researcher at the educational and methodological center "Sibokhotnauka" of the IrGSKhA. If earlier the seal could be seen only in the north of Lake Baikal, now often this mammal also enters the south of the lake, appears in the area of ​​the Small Sea. Such a greatly expanded population harms the animals themselves in many ways - many seal cubs experience difficulties in obtaining food, their body weakens and they become susceptible to infectious diseases, in particular, to distemper. And many females, due to the greatly increased population, often remain unfertilized. And if in the north of Russia polar bears help regulate the number of seals, then on Lake Baikal this mammal has no natural enemies. There is no need to be afraid that the industrial extraction of seals will damage the biosphere of Lake Baikal, says the scientist: "Every year the seal brings one or two cubs, and it lives for about ten years, so this type of seal reproduces very quickly."

Ideally, it would be good to cut the number by half - to 50 thousand heads, says Boris Ditsevich. To do this, a quota of two thousand heads per year would be enough to begin with. Seal hunting would attract tourists to Lake Baikal in winter.“Hunting for seals with sleds on the ice of the lake was very widespread in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Now tourists, too, would like to give preference to this type of active recreation, "- says Boris Ditsevich. And the meat of young seals would become a delicacy that would be treated to tourists at tourist centers. You can even make hats from seal skins. The fat that can be melted from the seal meat is also useful. But the meat of adults can be used as feed for fur animals, in particular, minks and polar foxes, which are raised in animal farms.

Now only those Russian peoples have the right to get seal meat., for whom this food is traditional, in particular for the indigenous peoples of the north. At the same time, the Evenks did not particularly like the meat of an adult seal because of its smell. Often it was used simply for fertilization. In all other territories, industrial extraction of seals is now prohibited. The few animals that are caught for research purposes represent a fraction of the total. Basically, seals are studied by scientists in Buryatia; in the Irkutsk region, several individuals were sent to the Institute of Geochemistry named after V.I. A.P. Vinogradov SB RAS and the Baikal Museum in Listvyanka. Accordingly, the size of quotas for Buryatia is larger - almost 1.5 thousand individuals per year, and for Priangarye - 50.

According to the representative of the Angara-Baikal Territorial Administration of the Federal Agency for Fisheries Alexei Telpukhovsky, the last time in the Angara region, three peasant farms took a quota for the extraction of seals from Bolshoy Goloustnoye and Buguldeika. However, in fact, they mined only three to five of these Baikal endemics. But sometimes there are cases when seals fall into fish nets - up to 10-15 individuals. This is already, as they say, illegal mining.

It will take at least three years to allow the commercial catch of the seal. To do this, firstly, research organizations must conduct monitoring, which would show how many seals can be caught. Secondly, it will be necessary to make changes in the fishing rules. In this case, the initiative can come from the regional government. According to the assumptions of experts in Buryatia, the quota for the extraction of seals could be set at 4-5 thousand individuals per year, and in Priangarye one thousand would be enough. According to Boris Ditsevich's estimates, the extraction of seals could bring 6-7 million rubles to the regional budget annually.

Alexey Telpukhovsky agrees - you can get a seal, but the main thing is that you don't need to make a show out of this, because this animal is a brand of the Baikal region.

The question pops up - If there are fewer seals, perhaps there will be an addition of omul in Lake Baikal? Some officials from Buryatia and the Angara region, we recall, believe that the breeding seal is to blame for the decline in the population of this fish.

It is impossible to give a positive answer to the question, experts say. The seal mainly feeds on gobies and golomyanka. People taught the seal to omul themselves: “Often the seal swims to where the nets are installed and she has no choice but to eat the omul that has swum there, she gets used to it, and then the animal starts looking for the food that it has gotten used to,” says Boris Ditsevich. In general, it is not typical for the seal to eat omul - this fish swims quickly and the seal simply cannot keep up with it.

Magadan scientists have developed sausages, sausages, jerky and pâté from seals and seals

Scientists from the Magadan Institute of Fisheries have developed new products with a purely northern flavor - sausages, sausages, jerky and seal and seal pate. They say that it is very useful for health.

Jellied and pate, sausages and sausage. All this is made from seal meat. Director of Magadan-NIRO Sergei Marchenko, demonstrating product samples, is sure that the processing of pinnipeds in Magadan can be put on an industrial level. “You have a good high quality product with unique characteristics in front of you. Once upon a time, no one ate crabs, squid, but now they are considered a delicacy, ”said Sergei Marchenko, director of Magadan-NIRO.

The sea animal was actively hunted in Kolyma thirty years ago. Its meat has always been part of the diet of the indigenous peoples of the north. In Magadan, a sewing and souvenir factories worked, producing clothes and souvenirs from fur and bones of seals and seals. But in the 90s the fishery was curtailed. They are ready to revive it, says Andrey Zyulkin, the Magadan fishery. He is already in the business of drawing up a business plan. “There were 3 fishing vessels on the territory of the Magadan Region, which, on average, harvested about 9 thousand individuals each vessel. This is about 30 thousand a year. It was in demand! Today we have a demand, ”says the Magadan fishery manufacturer Andrey Zyulkin.

Seal hunting is also needed to preserve marine bioresources. The population of sea animals in the waters of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk has already reached a million. Which poses a threat to the natural balance and not only. “Now there are so many seals that fishermen simply complain that the seal even gets fish out of the nets. The hunting industry simply stopped working, ”said Evgeny Tikhmenev, Chairman of the Far Eastern Branch of the International Academy of Sciences of Ecology and Human and Nature Safety.

According to scientists, up to sixty thousand heads of sea animals could be hunted in Kolyma a year. Its meat is rich in useful polyunsaturated acids and hemoglobin. In the future, a canning production could be opened here, the long-stored useful products would be in demand even by astronauts.

So far, there are only prototypes of products made from seal and seal meat. Mass production is out of the question. But scientists and fish producers are already thinking about this. They say: you just have to start. Then it would be possible to produce also the drug Tulenol, and cosmetics from the endocrine glands of the sea animal, according to

Each nation has its own culinary traditions. For example, if the daily diet of the inhabitants of Europe and the overwhelming majority of Russians includes such types of meat as beef, pork or lamb, then for representatives of some peoples of the north, dishes made from the meat of the inhabitants of the sea are more familiar: walruses, seals or seals. By the way, not so long ago in the Russian media there were statements that such delicacies would soon appear on the shelves of our stores... How ready is the domestic consumer to get acquainted with such products? A big question, because few of us know what seal meat tastes like and what can be cooked from it at home.

Seal taste

The conversation about the taste of seal meat should begin with the fact that, although this marine mammal has been considered a traditional fishing object for northern peoples, for example, the Evenks, from time immemorial, it is reliably known that his meat was never widely consumed... That is, of course, the indigenous inhabitants of the northern regions of Russia ate such meat, but they did it only when absolutely necessary, when it became a matter of survival in extreme conditions. As for the daily use of seals, there is no such tradition. These animals were hunted mainly for their skins, which were used for sewing clothes and furnishing dwellings. For domestic purposes, fat was also used, while meat was allowed to feed dogs, hunting bait and even fertilizer, burying it in specially prepared pits.

It's no secret that taste qualities meat of any animal is largely determined by its diet. In this regard, it is necessary to clarify that the seal menu is mostly fish, which has a corresponding effect on the culinary characteristics of the seal meat. Those who have tasted seal meat say that it tastes strongly of fish. Moreover, this smell and taste are so stable that they are not eliminated even under the influence of special agents and a large amount of aromatic spices.

Also, experts note the high level of fat content of such a product. This is explained by the fact that the seal lives in the cold seas and without a significant supply of fat in such conditions it simply cannot survive. Thus, You cannot call dietary seal meat - this is a fact.

Culinary perspectives

What can be prepared from seal meat? Skilled culinary experts claim that with a certain approach, any product can become the basis delicious food that will win the heart of even the most discerning gourmet. For example, experts say that Seals can make wonderful cutlets- this is the most acceptable and promising option, since for cooking cutlets or other minced meat products it is possible to mix seal meat with other, more familiar types of meat for us. This will have a positive effect on both the taste of the final product and the level of fat content in it. The addition of a large amount of appropriate seasonings and spices to the minced meat also helps to solve the problem of specific taste and smell.

Yet it is believed that this species will help to make the seal meat taste more palatable. culinary processing like smoking. Especially if in the technology of hot smoking sawdust is used from such wood species that have a strong persistent aroma. Besides, the possibility of producing stew from seal meat is being considered. True, I must say that similar experiments have already been staged by the Soviet food industry - in the 80s, whale meat stew appeared on the shelves. Then the experiment failed - the Soviet consumer did not like such a delicacy.

So, seal meat tastes quite specific - there is a rather persistent smell and characteristic taste of fish, which is the basis of the diet of these mammals. It is difficult to get rid of them, even careful preliminary processing, as well as the use of a large amount of fragrant spices, solves this problem only partially. Despite this, some experts argue that thanks to modern technologies in the food industry, it is quite possible to prepare wonderful semi-finished products from seal meat, as well as smoked meats and stew.

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The meat of the Far Eastern seal is good for food, but it is not profitable to trade it. Some private companies want to revive the pinniped industry, but this is expensive and requires a lot of investment. In addition, the question of sales markets remains open: the product will be too expensive for the local population, and foreign companies show no interest in the meat of the Far Eastern seal. Leading engineer of the TINRO-Center Mikhail Maminov and head of the laboratory for the problems of rational use of aquatic organisms Albert Yarochkin told about this in an interview with the newspaper "Zolotoy Rog".

The All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography has started developing food standards for seal meat. Such information appeared recently in the central media. According to the calculations of scientists, they said, the population of seals, walruses, seals and fur seals has increased, which makes it possible to start industrial production without harm to the environment.

Since the seas of the Far East are the habitats of these animals, the Golden Horn asked the staff of the Pacific Research Fisheries Center (TINRO-Center) to assess the resources of marine mammals, and most importantly, the demand for products from them. It is no secret that in the diet of Russians, in general, this meat has never been, with the exception of whale meat, and then during the Soviet era. The ban on whaling has deprived us of this, which few people regret.

In Soviet times, the hunting of pinnipeds in the country was quite active, but their meat went exclusively to feed fur-bearing animals. Although some argue that in the old days, walrus meat was quite often on sale in Sakhalin and Moscow. With the actual collapse of the fur industry, maybe not in all of Russia, but in the Far East for sure, this trade is a thing of the past.

Does it make economic sense to revive it? The "Golden Horn" is discussing this issue with the leading engineer of the TINRO-Center, Mikhail Maminov, and the head of the laboratory for the problems of rational use of aquatic organisms, Albert Yarochkin.

We can live like vegetarians, but the meat of marine mammals is useful for human health, - says Mikhail Maminov. - The fishery has never disrupted populations. According to our forecasts, up to 56 thousand animals can be caught annually in the Okhotsk and Bering Seas. Today, about 1-1.5 thousand seals are caught, the same number of walrus. Basically, these volumes go to the food of the indigenous peoples of the North.

A quota is needed for the production of marine animals, as well as for fishing, which is allocated by the Federal Agency for Fishery. The catch of pinnipeds in the USSR has always been, and it stopped due to the collapse of the marine hunting fleet.

Now there are private companies that would like to revive the fishing, but this pleasure is expensive, large investments are required. In addition, seals are not as big animals as whales, and at the same time it is impossible to get a large amount of meat from their catch.

- Mikhail Konstantinovich, have you tried products from marine mammals?

Tried it, delicious. It's always tasty when cooked well, but you have to know how to cook.

- In your opinion, can these products be in demand among the population?

This is a big question. It all depends on the technologists. First you need to try, everyone has their own taste. By the way, in the 30s canned food from seals was very popular, even from beluga whales, these are cetaceans. Good quality medicines are made from the meat of marine mammals. But, since all this requires large investments, there are no people willing to develop this direction yet.

- Is there a demand for these resources from foreign companies?

On our resources, in my opinion, no. Previously, marine mammals were hunted in large numbers by Norway, Finland and Canada. The meat went to the domestic markets of these countries and to others European countries... Then the "greens" achieved a ban, and the mass mining stopped. As far as I know, the Norwegians and Finns are seeking permission to resume fishing.

The meat of marine mammals will certainly be expensive, since these are animals, I don’t take sea lions, small, ”says Albert Yarochkin. - Their fat is very healing, contains up to 30% polyunsaturated fatty acids.

If it is mined, then it must be processed quickly so that it does not lose its value. This is how all aquatic organisms differ. It is necessary to quickly freeze, pack in a good, gas-tight film, etc.

- Are floating bases necessary for such a fishery?

Not necessary.

- So, will you need onshore processing, close to the fishing areas?

Yes, from Koryakia representatives of the tribal community of small ethnic groups contacted us to make a technical justification for the processing of marine animals. They asked how they could establish economically viable fishing and processing of these facilities not only for themselves, but also for the market. We made a feasibility study. Calculations have shown that under certain conditions this can be economically justified. Special vessels will be required, which could also be used for fishing. This will eliminate seasonality in such work.

- Has anyone already processed sea animal meat?

Several years ago, in Chukotka, the Americans built a plant for the production of canned walrus meat in the village of Larino. He worked for a while, but now it's worth it. In Khabarovsk there is a company called Larga, which has a quota for a certain number of seals. They get good out of her edible fat, packaged and sold. They say that it is in demand. I don’t know about meat. They were going to freeze it and turned to us for recommendations, took the documentation; how it all ended, we do not know.

Let us remind from RIA PrimaMedia that Primorye scientists doubt the possibility of catching seals in Primorye: firstly, the products from their meat have never been in great demand, and secondly, seals are found in the reserve, where their catching is prohibited.

Nevertheless, a petition in defense of Far Eastern seals has already appeared on the Internet - the authors ask the initiators of the idea of ​​producing products from seal meat to abandon this idea and urge the authorities to prevent the revival of industrial murder.