Dorsal fin clipped

[Hooked up]

Hooked three steelhead and had one drive by. Two were natives and one hatchery buck . The hatchery fish had the dorsal as well as the adipose fin clipped. Has anyone seen this before? I`m not sure what the deal is, maybe training day at the hatchery

[nuke]

I assume it is just that, a knife gone out of control... I have had several with either 1/2 a dorsal or none at all

[yankemnbankem]

Different rivers have different fins clipped when the fish has gone around for a second time or second year fish. Did your fish have a little color? you will find in different rivers some fish have dorsels cut, others have sections of tail fins cut or front fins cut or even holes punched in gill plate. I am sure others on here can fill you in more precisely.

[C-lice]

I've caught some that were dorsal clipped and several that looked like they were just rubbed off from living in a cement pond. They probably got mistaken for pellets at chowtime back at the hatchery.

[freespool]

I might have to ask Yoda, but I'm fairly certain they do not clip dorsel fins. Young steelhead like to nip at each others fins, while living in the concret raceways.


salmon hugger

[seaweedsam]

I was told by a guy I know that works at a hatchery that they sometimes clip the bucks dorsal to see if that fish returns a second time on thier next trip back . they release all the bucks that weren't used during there egg take. I have caught a 16 lb. hatchery buck a few years ago that was missing the dorsal and adipose fin, but I have never caught one before or since then.

[SEAWEED PETE]

I have caught a bunch of fish like that. Not sure why but they definately were clipped on purpose. You can tell pretty easy if it is a rearing pond nibble or a clip. Good job on the hook up.

[Hooked up]

This fish was clipped on purpose. No mistaking what it was. The fish was cought on the Wilson. It was a nice bright fish and is going on the BBQ tonight

[SEAWEED PETE]

That is where I have caught most of the dorsal clipped fish also. Can somebody advise why these Wilson fish are clipped that way ?

[freespool]

Just got off the phone with the director of the Fall Creek Fish Research project. To his knowledge ODFW does not clip dorsel fins. He said they can do a very good job of removing each others dorsel fins in the raceways.


salmon hugger

[Chris Nordling]

I've recently visited the tagging operation at the Clackamas ODFW office and asked the same thing (they are in charge of clipping all of the fish for the state).

They clip adipose,maxillary, and ventral fins as these are the fins that when removed have the least negative impact to the fish's health and ability to move in a normal manner.They also run a quality control check every hour from each station, and if some had a slip of scissors on a regular basis, it would be caught and corrected. Also, many of these folks doing marking have been at it for several years (these are not hatchery workers), lots of practice hitting the adipose. An automated marker is also used for removing adipose fins as well ( but I think there is only one or two of those in use).

Rainbow trout (steelhead) when reared in high densities(like hatcheries) are notorious for fin nipping and fin erosion,especially the dorsal fin. Happens fairly frequently when the fish are less than 20 fish/per pound.

Hope this helps,
Chris (degree in Fisheries Technology)

[FastAction]

They also run a quality control check every hour from each station, and if some had a slip of scissors on a regular basis, it would be caught and corrected.

How? would they sew the fin back on? Or Smack the volunteers? Just kidding

[Chris Nordling]

Krazy Glue

Chris

[SEAWEED PETE]

Thank you all for your input. I would have bet the fish I have seen like that were done on purpose. Very clean, healed over scar for 50 % of the dorsal then a nice intact balance of the dorsal. Somebody's own little hatch box program ? Or fry that are going to be surgeons' when they grow up.

[Chris Nordling]

Well, they do have a few years in the ocean for that to heal, think about how the adipose can regenerate from a mis-clip or partial.

From what I've personally seen raising fish,and from what I know, those little buggers aren't performing surgery .It's pretty common for the fins to be removed pretty cleanly by rubbing the walls or nipping of a buddies(or sister) fin.

Chris

[Hooked up]

Very interesting. This fin was removed completly, all the way to the body and the full length. The same as the adipose. I have seen alot of rubbed and messed up fins but nothing like this.

[GoneFission]

I agree with the observation that the dorsal can get rubbed clean by life as a hatchery fish. I've seen a continuum of mangled dorsals, from nearly clean and intact to absolutely gone, on streams from vastly different areas of the NW. Most recently I caught one on the Walla Walla in Washington with little more that a thick nub that extended no more than half an inch from the body. I may even have a picture of it--I'll upload it if I can find it.

[got chrome?]

I've also caught a steelhead on the Sandy last year that had the dorsal fin removed. From the looks of it, it appeared that the fin was cut. Fin nipping and erosion sounds logical, but the cut looked pretty clean. The steelie was also a bit colored.