Seal & Net Marks (Pics) Post here

[stlhdr1]

If you've ever taken pics of seal bites or net marks I think it would be good to post them here. We could save up large quantities of photos and present them to the Game Department someday and show what the predators and gillnetters do to our fish...

Plus it shows you how strong our fish are in our rivers. A simple hook in the lip doesn't always kill them...

Here #1

Here's #2

Here's #3

Here's #4

Here's #5

Here's #6


Well I sure hope there are others out there that actually save these photos.. I know that anglers usually take a pic of the best side of the fish but let's start getting these and show some evidence of these fish taking a beating like they do... Maybe someday it will give the state a reason to harvest seals and sea lions and perhaps the netters too..

[ 02-26-2004, 10:49 PM: Message edited by: stlhdr1 ]

These photos are a perfect example of how the MMPA has gone beyond it's original intention. What started out as a well intentioned law now needs refinement.

[crabbait]

(MMPA = Marine Mammal Protection Act, in case someone was wondering.)

[Hoosier Daddy]

#3 Looks like a snagging wound to me
#6 I dunno, how would a seal be able to take that small of a nip?

Cool pics though.

[Chilly one]

A Very large % of the steelies caught in by drift boat this winter as in the past as well, have had MANY marks, rips & tears in the flesh and exterior skin damage. This includes 4-5 rivers along the coast!!!

It's time, as it needs addressed for the conservation of our runs of fish. All andronamous species. Pictures tell the story!

Chilly one :whazzup:

[Hoosier Daddy]

I dunno. Fish gotta swim, seals gotta eat.

[Rodbuilder]

LESS SEALS MORE FISH ?
JUST A THOUGHT

[judyfish99]

Yes, the seals are up near Clackamette Park. I sure hope that the Feds do something to aleviate the problem. No Seal should be past Longview. I was fishing Bradford Island last fall when I had a nice fish on. Uh-oh, the line went slack suddenly and many of the guys think a seal grabbed my fish. Just had 20 lb. P-line respooled on my reel. I was really unhappy. Last years tag had NOTHING on it. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

[deep set]

I have been reading the long dialog and heated opinions on handling of wild fish.

In short my opinion is that they should be revived carefully and completely until they force thier way back into the river current. That said I limit netting and handling.

My question...if our fish can endure net marking and seal bites like those...aren't some of the positions on handling of native fish a bit overboard???

[Hoosier Daddy]

Originally posted by Rodbuilder:
LESS SEALS MORE FISH ?
JUST A THOUGHT

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">That thought's been expressed a million times. There are problems with it. Yes, killing every seal would reduce predation on salmon. Whether that would make a significant difference in fish abundance is another story.


QUOTE]Originally posted by judyfish99:
....No Seal should be past Longview.[/QUOTE]

Why?

[SteelieSlammer]

I wish i had a picture of this but once when fishing in the puget sound we caught a small silver and had it on a stringer over the boat when a seal came up and took a bite out of it. All that we were left with was the head and some inards.

[WheresMyBobber]

I too have caught many, many steelhead and salmon with seal and net marks and am as frustrated as most of you with the seal issue.

But just to play devils advocate, we need to remember how many fish are swimming up the river with our lures (kwikfish, Alvins, spinners etc...) hanging out of their mouth, sometimes with line still attached, or fish with part of their jaw ripped out after "winning" a battle with a fisherman. This is actually quite common -just talk to someone who has worked in fisheries management for a while.

Something else I've always wondered about is how many fish bite tackle that we've lost in the river and get stuck there? Maybe not very many, but it's an interesting question in my mind.

I guess my point is, seals and nets aren't the only ones that injure or incidentally kill the fish.

(although the fish we bonked yesterday had no net or seal marks! :smile: )

[ZaQ]

Originally posted by deep set:
I have been reading the long dialog and heated opinions on handling of wild fish.

In short my opinion is that they should be revived carefully and completely until they force thier way back into the river current. That said I limit netting and handling.

My question...if our fish can endure net marking and seal bites like those...aren't some of the positions on handling of native fish a bit overboard???

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">

[Green Willie]

Are #3 and #4 the same fish? If so, the comment about a snag wound for #3 would not be correct. The abrasion patterns, fish coloration, and wound locations appear consistent in the two photos.

JN

[stlhdr1]

Yes that's one of the points I'm trying to make with this thread is that we don't put to much stress on fish handling them a little when catching and releasing them. They go through a lot more in the wild than we do to them.. At least we don't send them back into the river with huge gash marks..

As you can see it doesn't affect them too much as all these fish were caught on bait after they'd been garred....
Keith :grin:

[globalfisher]

Either way, their is going to end up ending with another predicament. Its the way things were put together. As for the snaggers and gil netters, we just need to get more evidence to stop it.

[stlhdr1]

Yes #3 and #4 are the same fish.. I figured it was net marks but you make the call..
Keith [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

[Gun Rod Bow]

Keith,

2 years ago spring run at Bonneville, remeber the first year of the "tooth tangle" debocle, we caught several springers with net marks around their faces and skin cut through.

Similar to your pic #6. I had some shots (35mm back then) showing the marks. All had adipose fins.

I talked to Terry Mulkey on the dock and he was seeing the same thing on like 1 out of every 5-6 fish.

I thought then, with cuts that deep, these fish will never make it to spawn in August/September.

You know how sometimes springers in the summer get that "hereford cow" look with white fungus over their heads. I assume they get infected from the cuts or lack of slime or both.

I've also caught some springers that looked like they'd been in a bar fight in the Middle Fk Willamette (above Springfield) assumably from rocks and fish ladders on their migration.

I'll try to find some of those pics and scan in.

[Bonneville Dan]

Let's not forget to thank the Sierra Club for all that Great White food!

[Bonneville Dan]

2nd try for the image...

[img] 10331857.jpg [/img]

[stlhdr1]

Yeah all pics are great.. I'd like to see them.. I have several others that are 35mm, I've only been using a digital camera for 3 years now. The first 1.5 years were lost when my computer crashed and I didn't have them backed up to disk... Ticked me off.

Anyhow I too believe that the white stuff they get all over them in late summer is a result of the same thing although I've never confirmed it. I see a lot of that on steelhead too in the rivers I fish, later in the year and specifically on spring and summer fish. Sad to see.. Anyone know exactly what that white fungus is from and what it's called???

Post some pics if you have them.. I want to send them to the Fish and Game and let them see what's going on...
Keith :grin: [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

[Ty]

You guys think Seals and Seal Lions kill more salmon and steelhead than damns, umbanization, logging, and agriculture??????

Think about it....... Might stick to the things we can control...

[WheresMyBobber]

I don't know what that white fungus stuff is, but I'm pretty sure it's natural as they complete their life/spawning cycle. Salmon that have spawned and are in the process of dieing have it all over their bodies. I've also caught downstream steelhead that have it, but I've heard that if they survive the trip back to the ocean they can heal again.

I'm sure one of the biologist type folks here can explain it for us.

[ANDYCOHO]

Here you go PlayinHookeyNooky:

[wade]

The type of wounds you find are likely due to where you're fishing. Andronomous fish go through the gauntlet from the beginning to the end. The wounds I find on the fish I take are mostly due to (respectively):
#1 rubbing or ramming rocks trying to dislodge a hook. The face is laid open sometimes to the bone, and is either infected or will be soon.
#2 Old net scars.
#3 Fresh line rubs from my line as the fish is rolling and twisting during its fight with me.

But then the rivers I fish have a good clip to the current.

My intuition says the wounds from seals are most prevelant in dammed rivers where the tidewater is more likely to extend further inland and also cause a pile-up of easy-pickings, which is a tired topic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you won't see a sea lion in a river above the frogwater.

The new issue of National Geographic has an excellent article on how a controlled Harp Seal harvest is being carried out up North, by the ones that would appreciate there demise the most- the fisherman, who take a roll in harvest while adding to their income. The Harp Seal is #2 in seal numbers. I don't see how a sea lion hunt could work in the river or bay for the same reason you can't hunt in town- because of the proximity of populations and folks on the water, but the thought process is on the mark.

Kevin

[Mr. Shannon O'Brien]

A couple of years back in the winter on the clack I caught a nice 13-pound hen that had the front nose chopped off and belly sliced, which came from a boat propeller.

[Bonneville Dan]

Thanks Andy ! I've posted pics before, but this one didn't take.

[fish stalker]

I have often wondered why one of the local Indian tribes have not persued legal hunting of the seal and sea lions the way they have done for whale harvest . I'm sure they'd get plenty of angler support . Then products like sea lion hide hackey sacks could be made for sale :shocked: .

[stlhdr1]

Yeah they would I'm sure but there really isn't any money in it for them...

Anyone else have any pictures??
Keith :grin:

[The Overfishin Condition]

Will post a pic in the morning keith, it's a terrible mug of me, but, it's for the fish right?