Registered: 10/22/09
Posts: 3031
Loc: University Place and Whidbey I...
Originally Posted By: Carcassman
Recent works shows that the Pinnipeds (Yay Larry) are really chowing down on juvenile salmon. When the whales and pinnipeds are added together, they take more than humans. According to da Feds.
Always nice to be recognized!
Seriously, it is important to recognize ALL of the factors impacting recovery and that the loss to a wide variety of predators (not just pinnipeds) is having the most adverse impact. Conversely, it is also important to recognize that fishing is having a comparatively much smaller impact all factors considered.
That reality becomes even more critical when looking at how to significantly improve the availability of food for ESA listed Southern Resident orca.
Sure, many (non-fishers) will say to just further reduce or even eliminate harvest of Chinook; the low hanging fruit. Well, that fruit has been pretty well picked over and the predation problem persists or has become even more pronounced. The law of unintended consequences looms large; additional reductions of particularly recreational fisheries will further reduce license sales and the dollars necessary to operate hatcheries producing Orca food. I can hear the toilet flushing now.....
In its November 2017 edition The Reel News published an article entitled "Seven Keys to Unlocking our Fisheries" over Ron Garner's byline. In that article stats were provided showing that the Chinook output of Washington State hatcheries dropped from 23,302,293 in 1989 to 9,308,019 in 2016. That represents a drop of just over 60% in output in the face of increased predation.