Slabquest: with all due respect, if you want to blame a predatory mammal for the decline of salmon/steehead, it starts & ends with the two legged variety. Seals & sea-lions have been around for millions of years. They are also very pletiful in the places I go up to each year in Canada, where the Orca population is also doing much better. Yet the salmon stocks are far healthier up there. Fishing declines are a very complex issue, but virtually all of the numerous root causes always point back to how people have screwed it up (dams, logging, development, greed, etc etc). My two cents anyway, will get off my soapbox. No problem here if a seal gets a free salmon lunch, COMMERCIAL NETS, now that's a different matter!!