Northwest Fishing Reports

I was recently at a local outdoor sports store and I was talking to employee about the seal issue in the Puget Sound area. He told me the Native tribes have been given the ok to kill them to protect the killer whale population.

I did a quick google search but could find anything.

Has anyone else herd of this?

Have not heard that but would be happy if it were true, don't think it is though. It'd take an update to the Marine Mammals protection act I believe.

In a bit of good news on this front:
http://komonews.com/news/local/us-house ... -sea-lions

Hope it passes the senate. Only wish it allowed for removals as necessary instead of the cap at 100.

Overall there appears to be some momentum on the seal/sea lion front. Hope it continues and results in action.

That's just one part of the problem, what about Puget Sound!!!!!!!!!!

Hear you trophy and agree. Gotta start somewhere though and hopefully this cracks the door open to start actively managing seal and sea lion populations as part of salmon recovery efforts state wide. The MMPA has done it's job for their populations, they're recovered, we need to transition to active management now. I see that legislation as a first step in that direction. At least I hope it is.

It sure would be nice if we could teach the Killer Whales to feast on the local seals as other pods do.

You bet. Our Orcas are kinda wussy. I guess they never heard of sealburgers. The seals better look out though since now have a paintball gun!

An interesting video on the subject.

http://www.savefamilyfarming.org/chinook-recovery.html

The explosion in our Puget Sound seal population could very well be the catalyst for our declining chinook stocks.