Seal Dines On Sandwich MA Hatchery Trout

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JeffSod

Seal Dines On Sandwich MA Hatchery Trout

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Posts: 844

01/06/09 09:39:59

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Boy this harbor seal knows a good thing when he sees it-

From the Cape Cod Times

By Karen Jeffrey

January 06, 2009

A harbor seal found its way into a trout pond at the Sandwich fish hatchery this morning and took full advantage of the marine buffet before it was removed.

Hatchery employees found the 40-pound seal during a routine check this morning. At about 9:30 a.m. it was seen munching on a foot-long fish. The other trout swimming in the enclosed pool were agitated and jumping in and out of the water, according to one witness.

Members of the Cape Cod Stranding Network captured the seal and released it off West Dennis Beach at about 10:30 a.m. A network member described the seal as healthy and having a full tummy.

Network officials speculate that the seal entered the marsh area near the Sandwich Boardwalk and swam up a connecting creek to the hatchery. The creature had to travel over land from the creek to the hatchery trout pool.

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quashnet.clarksclassicfl...

#1

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Posts: 15

01/06/09 16:28:33

WBZ-TV did a short feature this evening on the seal story. You can see the seal (with a very nice brown trout hanging from its jaws) in the station's video archive:

http://wbztv.com/video/?id=71089@wbz.dayport.com

Quashnet's Paul H. Young Rod Database has photos and descriptions of over 530 PHY Co. rods, plus catalogs, accessories, etc. Thank you to all who continue to send me PHY rod photos and info.

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Rockthief

#2

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Posts: 28

01/06/09 19:11:20

now that is an opportunist!

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Wee Hooker

#3

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Posts: 440

01/19/09 06:16:42

Guide

Poor little guy. He must have been starving. I'd personally rather eat pond slime than a fresh from the hachery trout! PTueee! Hope they gave him a few Tums.

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Gerbubble Bug

Seals

#4

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Posts: 743

01/19/09 10:57:27

Master Guide

At the Marlboro Show all I heard was that the Seals have created a real problem on the Ocean Side of the Cape - even impacting Pleasant Bay. Talked with one Cape Codder who did not take a bass all year. Another one of my friends got a "Fat Cat" float tube and is tying up fresh water flies like a mad man. He's also selling his 21' Parker for a great price. On part-time guide I talked with, who fishes mostly Barnstable Harbor, said he quit after Mid-June.
What's up? Is anything going to be done about it?
They said the Seals follow wading fisherman and go after their fish if the hook up.
Tom
p.s.
Maybe I'm glad I moved to CT - still not sure

Last Edited By: Gerbubble Bug 01/19/09 13:32:02. Edited 1 time.

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quashnet.clarksclassicfl...

#5

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Posts: 15

01/19/09 12:08:03

I remember the years when functionally there really were no catchable striped bass. Things are great now, by comparison. In hunting and fishing circles, you'll always meet someone who wants to kill the seals, or wolves, or otters that are getting "all of my" fish, or elk, or whatever. Doesn't mean that it makes sense. There are so many variables involved in a complex coastal marine ecosystem that pinning a perceived decline in striped bass entirely on seals is silly (and there are no sea lions on the Atlantic coast). A factor that MAY be involved is the recently-reported low young-of-the-year index of striped bass: "The Maryland Department of Natural Resources last month released the young-of-the-year index, an annual index showing how well striped bass spawned in the Chesapeake Bay. This year's index is 3.2, well below the long-term average of 11.7, and the lowest number since 1990, when striped bass were just coming out of a near collapse status in the 1980s. Last year the index was 13.39. and it was 4.25 in 2006."

Note that almost all bass caught in Massachusetts waters are spawned in Chesapeake Bay, so this is relevant. However, Maryland fisheries biologists point out that the index can be highly variable from year to year, so this trend may not last (I've never been involved with striped bass studies, but I have had a close look at some population data of other fish species, and what the biologists are saying here doesn't surprise me). While seals, or pollution, or unfavorable water temperatures can always have an impact and need to be kept track of, sometimes there is no "smoking gun." Sometimes the fish just have a bad year. It is too soon to pin it all on the seals.

For more info: http://www.mvgazette.com/article.php?19076 and http://www.dnr.state.md.u...srelease2008/101608a.html

Quashnet's Paul H. Young Rod Database has photos and descriptions of over 530 PHY Co. rods, plus catalogs, accessories, etc. Thank you to all who continue to send me PHY rod photos and info.

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Gerbubble Bug

#6

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Posts: 743

01/19/09 12:36:40

Master Guide

Sea Lions, what Seal Lions? (Tee hee). Did it ever occur to our friends in Maryland that the juvenile index is down because of the lack of breeding fish? This index has not been this low since the 70's. In 2001 the index was 50.75 I hope for all of our sake this is cyclical.
Tom

Last Edited By: Gerbubble Bug 01/26/09 12:09:30. Edited 2 times.

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JeffSod

#7

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Posts: 844

01/19/09 12:39:17

Registered Member

They said the Seals follow wading fisherman and go after their fish if the hook up.
Tom

The problem is the shorebound fisherman being actually harassed by the seals. I have experienced it first hand it really is a PIA. The seals will track a shorebound fisherman up and down the beach and the second he hooks up if that fish is not landed in the time it takes for the seal to get to it then GAME OVER. You lose. Most times you lose what ever was attached to the end of your line when you have to break off the line or get spooled.

With the number of seals now residing on the outer cape the only way the problem is going away is some of devasting plague. Even a couple of great whites would have a hard time digesting all that seal meat.

I have surfed the Welfleet beaches for a very long time and remember when it was a novelty just to see one or two seals and that was usually only in the spring when the water was cooler. Thats not the case anymore. I have pretty much given up surf fishing the outer beaches myself too.

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spinzo

#8

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Posts: 1241

01/19/09 18:52:55

Master Guide

Striper fishing has been on the decline for a while, and the seals have nothing to do with it. There are a number of factors, including a few years of poor recruitment, but I also believe mismanagement is a huge factor. Right now the ASMFC assesses the health of the striper population on biomass -- total estimated weight of the striper population along the Atlantic Seaboard. Problem is, you can have a high biomass, but a total population that is tilted toward smaller fish. It takes a striper a few years after it reaches sexual maturity before it can produce an abundance of eggs, and the viability of the eggs younger fish produce is less than that of older, healthier fish. What we've got right now is a biomass that the managers deem healthy, but that is not producing the amount of eggs that they should be, and those eggs are not producing the amount of young they should be. It's headed for a disaster as we experienced in the early '80s.

Mike

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Flytackle

#9

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Posts: 1828

01/20/09 03:34:08

Outfitter

I've been a small game hunter as well as a fisherman for my whole life. When we have a poor year for rabbits, or squirrels, or even grouse, nobody panics, or blames the hunters, owls or hawks. We just recognize the cycle of abundence and scarcity and enjoy our time afield. They move, they die, they breed, they kill and they are killed. I had a great spring, and like everyone else, a lousy summer. Certainly not the first time that has happened. Ever have a favorite body of freshwater become "fished out" (by men, or otters, or other fish)? Come back in a few years and you may have the time of your life. Same with the stripers I say. I can recall many times when anglers stopped wringing their hands in panic and caught more stripers than they could count. In short, I trust The Lord will provide. If not stripers, then bluefish, if not bluefish, then pumpkinseeds, if not pumpkinseeds, then perch. Thank the Lord for perch. Alec

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Wee Hooker

#10

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Posts: 440

01/20/09 17:23:34

Guide

I'll cast my vote with Spinzo. The management laws are hosed and inconsistant from state to state. I've been an advocate of a coastal slot limit for a long time. Something along the lines of 1 fish per angler under 27" or over 40" would ensure that the most desireable egg bearers do their jobs. It would also allow kids and the occasional "less than expert" angler the chance to keep a common schoolie now and then. I for one have released one too many schoolies that was bleeding from a deeply swallowed hook . It's a waste of resource on both ends.

p.s. Hooking a harbor seal would have to be an awsome fight until he did break off!

Last Edited By: Wee Hooker 01/20/09 17:26:57. Edited 1 time.

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Gerbubble Bug

Fish Wildlife Stocks

#11

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Posts: 743

01/21/09 07:44:01

Master Guide

I take a different view (from the dark side). The shrinking populations of fish and game animals is certainly due to poor, politically driven fish and game management. When fish die off on a 100 mile stretch of water, fish are found to have both male and female sex organs, the ever shrinking Grouse, Squirrel. Rabbit, Giant Bluefin Tuna, Fluke, Flounder, Cod, Grouper, etc populations, leads me to think something is wrong. Part of our problem can be lack of predator control - Coyotes, Seals, etc. However, I feel there are real issues to address - the ever increasing greed permeating our society; very poor science; traces of fertilizers; pesticides, pharmaceuticals in our drinking water; inadequate environmental policies; our shrinking water supply; air pollution; and of course global warming. It very well be that our problems are cyclical. I don not feel we have the luxury to down play what is going on - we are in a crisis and we owe it to our grand-children to do something about it. My hopes and prayers are that our new administration will take environmental issues seriously and do something not only in the US but throughout the world.
All this over a stupid seal eating a Hatchery Fish
Tom

Last Edited By: Gerbubble Bug 01/21/09 08:21:28. Edited 2 times.

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spinzo

#12

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Posts: 1241

01/21/09 10:33:44

Master Guide

Gerbubble Bug wrote:

...and of course global warming.

I'm sitting here freezing my toches off waiting for this "global warming" I keep hearing about to kick in!

Mike

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