After the species of gray seal was hunted almost to extinction, its population has bounced back in New England. Environmentalists have been very excited to see the seals flourishing, whereas a few annoyed residents feel that there are a little too many of them.

At one time, the population of seals in New England was bountiful but almost the entire species was made extinct due to overhunting around the 1960s. However, with great care from environmentalists, their population returned to few of its original numbers in recent years and the gray seals are now thriving once again in Maine waters.

According to reports, this rise in the gray seal population is celebrated by environmentalists who feel that they are good for biodiversity in the area. But some locals are annoyed by the thriving of seals. They do not like their presence on the beach as the 600 pound seals take up most of the space on the seashore, attract sharks which feed on them and also make the air smell bad. Fishermen say that they interfere with fishing boats and also take fish from the water.

Some residents have also put in a request for controlled hunt of gray seals in order to keep the population down. Some New England states are already doing this for other animals, like Maine uses controlled hunting for deer and moose populations.

Peter Krogh, a fisher from Nantucket, has currently collected over 2,000 signatures for a Seal Abatement Coalition and has asked the federal government to take action and create laws regarding abundance of seals. He wants the government to make an amendment to the Marine Mammal Protection Act in order to allow controlled culling of seals. Krogh says that the seals are threatening tourism and fishing in Nantucket.

But environmentalists are opposed to amending the Marine Mammal Protection Act and say that this would undo the good that the act did in restoring the population of seals.