Steelhead declines linked with poor survival of young fish in the ocean

[markomoose]

I absolutely agree. But its a tangled web to try to figure it all out.. the Georgia Straight supports an annual commercial herring fishery and herring numbers remain good, really good actually for most of the straight. Yet salmon returns in the area have been hit and miss. With a lot of miss Which when you think about it they only really rely on that herring for the last few months of their life. Most of their life is spent deep at sea and we have not much of a clue what happens out there.

Lots of good points there Salty.I still dislike seals and love Steelhead fishing.

[Salty]

I'm no fan either we kill most things in the ocean for food but seals get a pass these days there's too many of them and we've changed the balance. I've lost fish to them before that doesn't help. lol. I found that the seals on the north end of the island were a lot more cautious of humans people aren't so in love with them up there, never had a problem with them stealing fish etc. Mind you there aren't as many seals in my estimation. The Georgia straight though is chock full of Harbour seals. Used to fish off Hornby island in the early 90s, the reel starts screaming and they bail off the rocks and come for lunch. I've had them swimming along side the boat while trolling for a long ways too, sometimes in groups watching and waiting for a fish to hook up

[souwester]

"Salty" your comment on not understanding ocean survival rates is bang on.Pretty much the key issue with steelhead management at this point in time as far as I'm concerned.

[boblly1]

I agree with seal lions or seals if that`s what you choose to call them. In the spawning season they will kill their own wait a day. So i`d say they are a large part of the equation

[boxhitch]

Intensive study of seal poop going on now

Study: Harbor Seals Target Salmon Juveniles Of Conservation Concern In Salish Sea...................Harbor seals eat both adult and juvenile salmon, but the adults they target in the autumn are from healthier stocks of fish (of less conservation concern) than the juveniles they target in the spring, according to a recent study of prey preferred by harbor seals in the Straits of Georgia in British Columbia.

Harbor seals tend to eat adult chum and pink salmon during the fall season, but they target larger juvenile chinook, coho and sockeye salmon, even though there is a higher abundance of chum salmon available in the spring. Those species, according to the study, are of greater conservation concern................................

http://www.cbbulletin.com/439218.aspx

[teebs]

where is your convincing data about fish farms?

Here are a few peer-reviewed articles:

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/318/5857/1772

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.o...1564/689.short

http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology...l.pbio.0060033

I'm sure there are just as many studies that would say that salmon farms have no impact, but I've done a lot of reading and writing on the subject and personally I find the evidence against salmon farms to be more convincing. I studied fisheries management in school and currently work in that field, and I've met lots of good folks from both sides of the aisle. Unfortunately, marine ecology is just incredibly complicated and we will probably never come to a firm consensus on the issue, but I think we should be considering how to mitigate any possible causes of declining salmon stocks if we want to preserve them.

[303savage]

Seals, There used to be a bounty on them. and you didn't see very many. I was at Texada Island a few years ago and seen hundreds of them pulled out on the rocks. My friend and I went salmon fishing and he told me to turn the clicker off in my real because when the seals heard the clicker on the reel going, the seals would dive off the rocks and come looking for the fish. I left my clicker on and as soon as to seals heard it, the started bailing of the rocks to look for your fish.

Sea lions weren't very common then either.

[lwing]

Old native guy told me they used to hunt seals for food a long time ago, and it kept the numbers down, they don't taste very good he said, now no local First Nations hunt seals I've ever seen. Another old timer told me as a kid he would hunt seals and sell to a guy that sold them to a dog food company.
Usually 3-4 seals in the local river chasing salmon, last year saw a group around 30-40, it was quite the sight, stopped a lot of traffic, can't imagine how easy it is in the river for that large group to be pretty devastating
Need to find a way to market seal meat, blubber and hide for the natives because there the only ones who will ever be allowed. Maybe take some pressure off all the food fish they sell.