It's the fur bags?

https://www.nwcouncil.org/news/blog/research-salmon-disappearing-seal-lions-increasing/


If the circumstantial evidence bears out, adult salmon returning from the ocean to the Columbia River Basin are being killed by seals and sea lions between the estuary and Bonneville Dam in alarming numbers, according to research by NOAA Fisheries.

The latest results, still considered preliminary, of research that began in 2010 show a steady increase in fish mortality over a five-year period that may be attributable to seals and sea lions. Adjusted for other mortality factors including harvest, the effects of sampling gear on the fish captured for research, and detection efficiency at Bonneville Dam, 2014 average spring Chinook salmon survival was just 55 percent, down from 69 percent in 2013 and 82 percent in 2012. If the 2014 estimate is representative of the run at large, this means approximately 45 percent of the 2014 spring Chinook run died somewhere between the mouth of the river and Bonneville Dam.

“Even I have a hard time believing those numbers, but at least through 2013, estimates of fish mortality do fall within theoretical estimates of predation,” lead researcher Dr. Michelle Wargo-Rub of the Seattle-based Northwest Fisheries Science Center told the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee at its November 4 meeting in Portland.

She said fish mortality, and the number of sea lions in the estuary, have increased dramatically in recent years. NOAA research focuses on spring Chinook because that is the time of year when the sea lion population is largest in the river.

Mostly males, the sea lions follow the spring-returning fish between March and May. Most of the sea lions then go to breeding grounds off southern California in the summer.

Dr. Wargo-Rub and her research team catch and tag salmon in the estuary near Astoria. More than 2,200 salmon have been tagged since the research project began, and of those about 68 percent were determined by genetic testing to be destined for the river and tributaries above Bonneville.

Survival varies over the course of the run, Dr. Wargo-Rub said. It appears that a higher proportion of early-migrating fish die before reaching Bonneville Dam than fish that migrate later in the spring. Early returning fish also take longer to reach the dam and so are exposed to potential predation for a longer time, she said.

Committee Chair Phil Rockefeller, a Washington member of the Council, said that even if the 2014 numbers are adjusted, “the trend is such that we have a growing predation problem.” He pointed out that the Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program calls on federal agencies to use their authorities to reduce predation losses caused by seals and sea lions.

Committee member Bill Booth of Idaho, who has had an interest in predation issues since he was appointed to the Council in 2007, said he found the NOAA research results “quite disturbing,” and added, “if predation is really 30-40 percent of the spring run over the last couple of years, and the region is directing more than half a billion dollars a year to fish and wildlife recovery, and nearly half of the spring run is being consumed by seals and sea lions, then we definitely have a problem.”

I would bet that if they got there @#$% together, get the number of furbags in Oregon and Washington in check, that our salmon, sturgeon, and flounder populations would start to come back. 

I can't for the life of me figure out how ODFW managers and such can't see the connection? 

I say open season on them if there up in portland they ain't "sea" lions anymore

I can't for the life of me figure out how ODFW managers and such can't see the connection?

I'm sure they are aware of the problem or they wouldn't be spending so much money paying people to shoot firecrackers and rubber bullets at them all day at Bonneville. The problem is that state's hands are bound by federal laws (ESA and MMPA). The MMPA is the most nonsensical law ever. I don't understand what makes an air breathing marine mammal so special compared to any other mammal as we readily manage terrestrial mammals using lethal means all the time (e.g. hunting, trapping, round-ups, etc....).

What makes them so special is hippy ass Californians

I grew up on the Oregon coast in the 60's and 70's and almost never saw a seal except for the dead ones washed up on the beach with a bullet hole in the side due to the commercial salmon fishermen. They sure have rebounded since then. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to see a lot less of them now. Every river and creek has a gauntlet of seals feeding on the fish today.

I took this video earlier today. I live on the water in Coos Bay. I tossed a couple rockfish carcases over the bank and these guys showed up within a minute. Im not sure to what degree the seal/sea lion population affects salmon on the Coos river, but i have heard there used to be a large population of flounder in the sloughs here that has almost completely dissapeared.

Has anyone ever had their fish taken by a seal? I've seen many fish lost to sea lions but never one to a seal although they always seem to be hovering around my boat.

Has anyone ever had their fish taken by a seal? I've seen many fish lost to sea lions but never one to a seal although they always seem to be hovering around my boat.

Not I, but it does happen. I think I recall a read where someone's salmon got grabbed by a seal and they were actually able to get it back! The sea lions are far more aggressive.

Has anyone ever had their fish taken by a seal? I've seen many fish lost to sea lions but never one to a seal although they always seem to be hovering around my boat.

Yes. I had one take one from me this year at Alsea bay fishing with bb2fish. It ended up hooked in the face and dragged me around for a few minutes while I tried unsuccessfully to break the line. It was bigger than me.  A swivel finally broke and that was the end of my gear. It was very scary and I hope it never happens again.

I've had a large seal take my live bait anchovy once while on a bait stop for tuna.  Very scary experience.

Just as soon as the seal felt pressure after being hooked, it went crazy jumping and flipping out of the water immediately adjacent to the boat.  It hit the boat and kicker motor a couple of times before I could get my belt knife on the line and cut free.  It could have been disastrous if that thing flipped into the boat. 

Has anyone ever had their fish taken by a seal? I've seen many fish lost to sea lions but never one to a seal although they always seem to be hovering around my boat.

I haven't had one take a fish from be, but spend some time around the power boaters and you will start to see a sequence that they do to help others have a chance at landing their fish. 

When one boat gets a fish on, other boaters in the area see the bendo.   As the boat with the fish on gets some traction on his fish (quietly), other boaters quite a ways away will make noise like they are landing a fish and get out their net and make swoops in the water to make the fur bags think they have a fish on.  Them bastards have connected hooting and hollaring and nets with a free meal. 

This action gives the boater with a fish on some time to get his fish to his boat, and then he quickly get the net out and makes his scoop quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Good team work for those that practice it.   

I noticed a nice selection of slingshots in the fishing section at the sporting goods store in Florence the other day. When I make it down to the mouth of Sixes River, which I just did, step number one is to start chucking rocks at the seals and get them to clear out a bit. They respond to overt hostility.

I have been a victim. Let's just say more then once. It happened twice this last salmon season in Astoria. Here's some video I shot 2 years ago in the Willamette River near GR park. On this day I had not seen a sea lion for over 2 hours when suddenly this guy saw what I was up to and came out of nowhere. This Steelhead in the video is nothing compared to the 2 Chinook I lost this year in Astoria. I really hope these most recent results is enough to finally open some eyes and get things done.

I have  never lost a salmon to a seal on the yak but have lost plenty from my power boat. One power boat tactic is once the seal has your salmon in its mouth, you follow your line and keep the boat overtop of the seal so it can't come up and get a breath. Eventually they are forced to let the salmon go to get some air and if you are quick on the reel, you can sometimes get your fish back. Usually takes 2 people on board, 1 at the helm and the other on the reel to have a chance. That tactic doesn't help us on the yaks tho. The slingshot idea is effective--I used to use them when commercial trolling and the  sealions starting following the boat.
T2