really tired of hand feeding those things my fish. lost 4 fish to one seal yesterday as he chased me all over jeff head. any info would be appreciated.

Use a paint ball gun it works better

potato gun... nuff sed.

Just a suggestion,
You could write a letter to the fishery managers.

The letter could identify the Puget Sound harbor seal population is growing at ~ 8% per year since 2001 and is at least double the population recommended by NOAA for Puget Sound. During the same time period (2001 to present) salmon, steelhead, herring, rockfish, and Orcas populations have been declining. The letter could recommend that, at this time, managing the harbor seal population is absolutely necessary to reduce pressure on depleted or endangered salmon, steelhead, rockfish, and herring stocks, and extra fish in the water will benefit endangered Orcas populations. You might also ask them why it is OK for harbor seals to be feeding on endangered salmon stocks in north end of lake Washington every fall.

You could send that letter to;

WDFW providing comment to the Puget Sound Rockfish Closure Plan, SEPAdesk2@dfw.wa.gov (no later than Jan 4, 2010)

NOAA providing comments to the Orcas Recovery Plan, orca.plan@noaa.gov (no later than Jan 15, 2010).

good suggestion Plus1 .....c

Thanks Plus1, will do!

the only place i know you can get them is alaska by the box! we buy them in dutch harbor for all sorts of shinanagans

A letter will just hit the round file Try running the boat in a circle around the fish as you are playing it, this has worked for me a couple of times ,Or just run over the S.O.B

Normally, I would agree - BUT **
As long as NOAA and WDFW are accepting public comment on closing fishing areas in Puget Sound to protect fish stocks, I don't consider submitting letters a waste of time - but to each his own. NOAA and WDFW will formally respond to comments they receive during the open comment period. Considering the major impact seals have to the Puget Sound fish stocks and considering that NOAA has already recommended Washington manage the harbor seal population to protect fish stocks, I am interested in the 'official' response from both agencies.

If we don't write meaningful letters and don't attend the public meetings for Washington closures, well... I can't think of a better way to piss away our fishing rights here in Washington too.

Deterrence, well, that IS a different matter.
________________________________________________________________________

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NOAA Fisheries Service have jurisdiction over seals and sea lions. Here is what they have to say about deterrence;

Deterring Problem Seals & Sea Lions

Potential Deterrence Methods for Pacific Harbor Seals & California Sea Lions

don't forget to read the fine print;
Regardless of method or intent, the property owner or fisher may be subject to prosecution should a marine mammal be seriously injured or killed as a result of deterrence efforts for the protection of property, gear or catch.

Maybe US could outsource excess seal population to Canada...
The Canadian seal hunt is often the target of misinformation.

I guess I have been pretty darn lucky... Only one seals in a lot of years!

The wrist rockets and paint ball guns seem like fun, but anyone use their emergency signaling device (air horn) placed slightly underwater. A blast or two from a horn and you'll never see another seal for the rest of the day!

today I noticed a barge parked at the noaa facility in manchester behind the net pens absolutly loaded with sea lions. I pointed it out to my 10 year old son and he said "are you talking about that big boat full of wood" I thought that was funny. Lose alot of blackmouth to those bastards but not to much in the summer.
I live on the area of land between puget sound and clam bay and the barge is at the entrance to clam bay so I can hear these things inside my house daily all day and night if I have a window open. They are very loud. People come over sometimes and ask what the hell is that? where Im getting at is the noise is the same as it always is so thats telling me I just never noticed that barge before. SO WHAT DOES A 60-75 FT BARGE COVERED IN SEA LIONS IN A SMALL AREA EAT?

If their food sources become scarce the seal lions will move on.

Hijack sort of....

If you were to look at the Puget Sound Rockfish Conservation Plan under paragraph 2.7.7 Food Web Dynamics you will notice that the writers identify 14,000 harbor seals in Puget Sound (essentially all inland waters) as of 2007. They then provide the approximate weight per seal of 140 pounds and say that their daily food consumption rates are approximately 4% of body weight. They go on to say that "based upon these numbers,the estimated consumption of food by harbor seals in Puget Sound is quite high (emphasis added), 2.2 million kg (over 5 million pounds)."

Well, math was never my strong suit BUT a quick computation using their numbers yields an annual food consumption of 28,616,000 pounds for 14,000 seals.

If the writers considered 5 millions pounds as being "quite high" I have to wonder how they will describe the correct figure of 28,616,000 pounds? Actually, I am still waiting for Staff to respond to this apparent error as presented during the Olympia rockfish plan meeting. Time period for comments closes 4 Jan 2010.

Oh, and seals now at 15,000 per WDFW (adjust upwards by 7%).

Will have to try the air horn underwater trick!

Use an m-80 you but at the rez, electrical tape it to a 4oz weight to get it down. firework stands are open till new years, they work great.

net to the head and keep em under water so they can't come up for air!

Saw one on the bank of the Humptulips on Tuesday. Didn't get close enough to see the bullet holes as my dog likes to roll in that [censored].