Originally Posted By: Rivrguy
T in GH if you did August you would land right on top of the Summer Chinook. If you want to get a feel for what the real mortality for Chinook is in transition water is, ask Francis.

Seining is a tricky thing ( I did a lot of it years ago ) and mortality rates are dependant on location. In transition water you might as well gill net them as most will not survive to spawn. If you beach seine it is doable but it takes a lot of time and a proper location. If you rush it and bunch the herd the pressure in the net will literally squeeze them to death or run them out of DO. Never seen a commercial spend and extra half hour on a set to insure no mortality. That is not how they make money.



Rivrguy,

Good stuff! What were the issues you encountered in seining? It seems like seines would be easier to manage wild vs hatch.

Gill nets are easy to understand since the desired effect is to snag whatever comes in to drown or get snagged and whacked.
Tangle nets are another issue but I am not convinced of their superiority, at all. Too labor intensive with no up side to the fisher, gotta pull the net to untangle something while missing a catchable fish? Why miss a fish to save one? I would not do that and doubt most commercial fishers would either. I am years out of the game and would like to hear a commercial's perspective if I am wrong, right or elsewhere.