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I hooked into a 17 pounder off the South end of Texada, on the weekend. 5 mintues into the fight a seal had the fish by the head. Having lost an ever increasing amount of salmon to seals, I was determined to win one back. Setting the drag tight, and the motor running, we chased the seal for 8 km. We had to pour water on the real to cool it down, but after an hour the seal gave up and released the fish. There was surprising little damage to the fish. The only natural predator of the seal is the transient killer whale. Recent reports from the marine mammal group at the Vancouver Aquarium have indicated that their numbers are low. What this has created is an environment in which seals can multiple unchecked. Two things could bring the population of seals under control. (1) Biological outbreak, or (2) A Seal hunt. Neither of these are likely for several years. What that leaves us as fisherman, is the reality that when we have a fish on, the likelyhood of having an encounter with a seal will be high. Personally I don't think my patience or my gear can take it. We need to put the fear of man back into the seal. This can be accomplished by: (1) Fighting the seal as long as possible when attacking your fish. (2) Using paintball guns/sling shoots as a pre-emptive measures. As a group, if we all employ these tactics then hopefully we will at the very least make the seals think twice about preying on distressed fish.
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<14532>
One of the main contibuters to our local seal population is pepole that find a pup one the beach,pick it up and give it to the Aquarium.Only to have them rehab the damn thing and throw it back into the Bay.Weather there was any thing actually anything wrong with the seal pup is not taken into consideration by these well meaning folks.Maybe Mom has gone to get some feed or maybe there is something wrong with it and it has been abandend.Oh well there goes 300+ seals!Freeze your paint balls then store them in the cooler!
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<14533>
I heard recently that some guides on vancouver island are towing a inflatable killer whale 30 ft behind the boat and i heard its workihng really well ...wether this is true or not i dont know but something needs to be done about the seals....i say cull cull cull
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<14545>
Hey doug you cant do that!!!!!
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<14556>
Hate to tell you guys this, but as the seals are considered an endangered species, if you are caught shooting ANYTHING at them, including paint balls, DFO WILL charge you, the fines start at $150.00, and the sky's the limit if they believe you caused the seal harm. The only option fishermen have is to keep the seal underwater once it grabs your fish. You've propbably all seen guided boats doing the really tight circle when the have a fish on? This keeps the fish right beside the boat and will generally(but not always) keep the seal from getting at the struggling fish. I'm not posting this because I like seals, BUT I do know that DFO has no sympathy AT ALL, for fishermen, if they attempt to hurt them. As for a cull, it's not likely to happen anytime soon. Look what happens when they try to kill off some of the Canada Goose populations. Kids can't play on or near their favorite lake because the goose droppings are fouling the beaches and waters, but the animal lovers always win out. I've got some American guests who have told me that it's getting so bad that even backyard ponds and pools are becoming usless for the human population, because the geese have taken over, but just mention the word CULL and people start to vibrate in horror. By the way, the inflatable killer whale works very well, so does the recorded sounds from a group of transient bulls.
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<14561>
Seals are NOT an Endangered Species-that is nonsense of the most vacuous variety. They like all Marine Mammals are a Protected Species.
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<14568>
I have removed a few garbage posts here. We welcome discussion, not insults or trolls. frank/admin
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<14570>
Gents, Let's remember, the seals rely on the fish for food more so than humans. We are encroaching on the seal's habitat, and not the other way around. This situation is very similar to the prime Tarpon waters of Boca Grande. Bull and Hammerhead sharks will wait for your prime tarpon of 140+ pounds to be hooked and 30 minutes into your agonizing fight your line goes slack and you realize you've lost your prize fish to a predator. Unfortunately, this is nature working against us. Fight the fish, because you can't fight mother nature.
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<14576>
Jon, That we have encroached on the seals habitat is a given. What you haven't mentioned is that we have also encroached on their natural predator's habitat as well. With no Orcas around, the seal population has gone unchecked for years. Reports from even 4 years ago put the Georgia Strait Harbour Seal population at well over 100,000 and increasing by over 15% per year. This is not a natural population model in nature and if left unchecked will only collapse when the food supply collapses or a major outbreak of disease occurs. We humans have replaced the seal's natural predator as top of the food chain. We have then (in our super intelligent ways) decreed that seals are too cute to kill anymore so we protect them. This inbalance will eventually break somewhere. Either we begin to assume responsibility as the chief predator within these waters and reduce the exploding seal population, or we determine that we will sacrifice our access to the food supply that supports it.
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<14577>
We use a slingshot or small bb or pellet gun.I have though about towing the killer whale, as I have seen the guy who started that theory. He lives in Naniamo. The amount of seals around the mouth of the Cap is terrable even at the best of times. I say CULL.
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<14578>
try fishing for seals with sturgeon gear they fight like crazy!!!
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<14579>
Last night, Ferry Island was invaded with seals. Every few minutes you could see em.
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<14580>
Have actually scuba-dived with them there.They take chunks out of your fins!! Luckily mine are Kevlar.
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<14583>
Too many humans want to assume their responsibility as chief predator solely b/c the salmon on the end of their line is threatened--not reason enough. Anglers who use weapons to discourage, or injure, seals, are IMHO, cowards. Anglers who use weapons to discourage seals, and advertise it on public internet forums, are IMHO, dumb cowards. Loons chasing your rainbow on Stump, dollies/bulls chasing your rainbow on the Skagit and seals chasing your salmon in Georgia Strait--it's all part of the game and the hunt. Without sounding like a eco-freak, I firmly believe that when you go fishing/hunting you do it on nature's terms. Too bad seals can't shoot back.
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<14588>
I just have a question here for everyone. Do Predators (minus humans) play a large role in Salmon mortality throughout their lives, and would seal predation (IE mostly in rivers is probably where they have the most impact) be as strong now with regard to numbers of Salmon per Seal as it historically would have? Have some of the things humans have done increased the amount of mortality through seal predation and other kinds of predation on Salmon over time? Can this therefore be considered natural, if predation has begun playing a larger role because of human causes, or would it be more reasonable for humans to intervene, since we can intervene in favourable scenarios (IE managing Salmon stocks), and reduce predation, if it can be proven to be having more of an impact than it naturally did in the past? Bubba, I'd love to go Transient Killer whale watching with you, you up for it? I'd love to see the look on your face when an Orca runs up the beach after one of those cute little Mammals and sucks it back out to sea. Too bad we don't have more of those lovely little Transient whales. Man would you ever pee yourself.
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<14594>
I fell that it becomes more than frustaiting when you have a few Paying geusts out for a day of Salmon fishing,and turns into Seal fishing.Within the last two weeks I have been hit by two Furballs and A fellow Guide got hit by four, all big fish indeed.How would you feel if you had that happen? Very $$$ on gear-each seal could cost as much as 50$ in lost gear,Flasher/lure/line .You lose all that just once and see how you feel,lose it four times then its time for a Glenfiddich or 5.
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<14597>
Eventually mother nature will do its part and a disease will wipe out a large number of the seals as it does with any other animal that is over populated but i still say something should be done in the meantime. Heard a guy lost a +40 pounder at the net out by the Q.A. to a seal.... Tight Lines
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<14599>
A seals natural food source consists primarily of herring and other small bait fish. A small part of their diet does consist of SMALL salmon. When a seal takes a salmon from a line, it is doing so in an opportunistic fashion. We are providing them with an unnatural food source, one that they may become accustomed to. Once a bear gets into garbage for the first time, he is much more likely to hang around and wait for more, rather than heading back into the bush to pick berries. What he becomes is a nuisance, and relocation or Euthanasia will usually follow. We are dealing with the same situation with the seals, however there is no conservation solution in place.
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<14606>
Ross did you ever hear of some nice men called Nazis? They also thought a certain 'animal ' was becoming a problem and they certainly did something about it. What you seem to fail to realize is that we are all part of nature. If any species needs culling it is us. Your fatuous argument applies equally to humans. Hmmm wonder who's going to be flossing us?
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<14610>
Thats a good point Ian but as mother nature acts im sure a great disease will eventually wipe out many humans as we too are over populated to some extent. Ian do you fish out on the chuck regularly...or at all?
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<14612>
Ian, we are being flossed by cigarette companies and the like:-) ...why do you think they say, "I'm hooked on cigarettes?"
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<14645>
Good point Frank. Hmmm...perhaps McDonalds are one of humanities great flossers then.:~}
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<14743>
Oh oh...you're not going to like what I did yesterday Doug. On Friday night I was walking along the beach after an evening of cutthroating and came across a seal pup among the rocks. I let him be but called the Aquarium's Marine Mammal Rehabilitation program on Sat morning to see what should be done next. They gave some suggestions on what to look for to see if he was in need of assistance but when I went back to the beach he was gone, presumably OK. Did a bit of brainwashing before I left him on Friday..told him that cutties weren't all that tasty but that coho and chinook that were attached by a long line to a boat were mighty fine. ;-)
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<14764>
Spent the last week in the Gulf Islands. We found several (4) dead seals on the beach...all with 12 ga. ventilation holes in their coats! Gee, how do you suppose THAT happened?
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<14772>
Maybe they were too hot and some1 did them a favour. Did they have their wedding tackle intact?
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