Not looking good!

[brutus]

I made my comments about seals based on what I consider fairly obvious evidence. We started protecting seals and sea lions in 1970, a graph showing the decline of salmon stocks is a mirror image of the explosion of the protected seal population. Our government has closely monitored our salmon spawns, releases, survival rates, ocean conditions and yet despite heroic efforts and investment our salmon stocks declined. Had the oceans warmed to the point where they could no longer support salmon survival, they’d all be gone, everywhere, that hasn’t happened. If habitat destruction was solely to blame entire runs would be extinct. Didn’t happen, barring something catastrophic like a mining disaster etc. DFO closely monitors our catch numbers, has for 40 years now. Yet we were left dumbfounded as to why we kept sending millions and millions of smolts out the tailpipe and only getting thousands back. We know fishermen didn’t take them. That’s a fact. If mother nature was killing them they’d all be dead everywhere that didn’t happen we’ve had good years and bad years I don’t think mother nature in a warming ocean works that way, the oceans can support life or it can’t. We know it can, certain runs are just fine. That wreaks of predation. Our salmon aren’t dying they’re being killed and we know it’s not BC’s fishermen doing it. The solution is starring us right in the face! I know 10-15 years ago fishing up in Campbell River, you dropped your gear out past the lighthouse and immediately you picked up 2-3 seals, they followed you until u fed them your first spring. This happened for years there. I know, small sample size, but my story was very very common on the coast. I’ve been fishing up there for 25 years, I lose 3-5 Springs every year to seals. I’m not alone

loosing a few fish to seals is nothing,they ambush the rivers mouth and kill as many salmon as they can in the fall,not to eat them just to kill them,just like a dog playing with a ball,they do the same in the spring killing all the juvi coming out,there is literally thousands of seals up the fraser all the way up to the canyon killing all the fish,see them up the harrisson in large numbers too,back in the 1992 to early 2000 I fish the rivers a lot and when you sean a few seals it was a big deal,2 years ago I finished my season in albernie inlet all the way to early October and I was stund by the sheer numbers of seal and sea lions in the inlet all the way up to in the sumass river,they KILL a lot more fish then all of us combine by the thousand,control the rats of the sea and the fish numbers are going to rebound

 

[lazylump]

I made my comments about seals based on what I consider fairly obvious evidence. We started protecting seals and sea lions in 1970, a graph showing the decline of salmon stocks is a mirror image of the explosion of the protected seal population. Our government has closely monitored our salmon spawns, releases, survival rates, ocean conditions and yet despite heroic efforts and investment our salmon stocks declined. Had the oceans warmed to the point where they could no longer support salmon survival, they’d all be gone, everywhere, that hasn’t happened. If habitat destruction was solely to blame entire runs would be extinct. Didn’t happen, barring something catastrophic like a mining disaster etc. DFO closely monitors our catch numbers, has for 40 years now. Yet we were left dumbfounded as to why we kept sending millions and millions of smolts out the tailpipe and only getting thousands back. We know fishermen didn’t take them. That’s a fact. If mother nature was killing them they’d all be dead everywhere that didn’t happen we’ve had good years and bad years I don’t think mother nature in a warming ocean works that way, the oceans can support life or it can’t. We know it can, certain runs are just fine. That wreaks of predation. Our salmon aren’t dying they’re being killed and we know it’s not BC’s fishermen doing it. The solution is starring us right in the face! I know 10-15 years ago fishing up in Campbell River, you dropped your gear out past the lighthouse and immediately you picked up 2-3 seals, they followed you until u fed them your first spring. This happened for years there. I know, small sample size, but my story was very very common on the coast. I’ve been fishing up there for 25 years, I lose 3-5 Springs every year to seals. I’m not alone

I don’t buy this argument. I don’t think seals can catch that many Springs out on the ocean, they can pluck them off your line easy, same thing when they’re schooled up in the estuaries and rivers. In the open ocean though, I don’t think they catch that many. I have seen them eating Chum fry in the bays for sure and pinks and Chum when they are schooled up. I think they probably eat the most Salmon when they are easy to catch in the rivers and estuaries. Don’t forget that seals eat pollock etc too which in turn eat lots of herring.
I can see removing seals where they are causing obvious damage. But I don’t think a seal, sea lion cull in general will fix the whole problem.

 

[brutus]

I don’t buy this argument. I don’t think seals can catch that many Springs out on the ocean, they can pluck them off your line easy, same thing when they’re schooled up in the estuaries and rivers. In the open ocean though, I don’t think they catch that many. I have seen them eating Chum fry in the bays for sure and pinks and Chum when they are schooled up. I think they probably eat the most Salmon when they are easy to catch in the rivers and estuaries. Don’t forget that seals eat pollock etc too which in turn eat lots of herring.
I can see removing seals where they are causing obvious damage. But I don’t think a seal, sea lion cull in general will fix the whole problem.

Not saying they kill a lot of salmon in open ocean, they are smarter then that,easier for them to pick them of your fishing line, wich is a small number compare to what they do in the early fall and spring, if the numbers of fish dont make it up the rivers to spawn there is no return, the one that make it up to spawn, there juvi get ambush at the mouth and get killed there, less fish making it out to open water equals decline in returning fish. I am not saying that seals and sea lions are the only problem but if we control predators it surely will help the stocks .