Thanks to Jim Borrow for the photo – it answers the question several have asked us today, about those fishing boats seen off Alki. They are purse seiners, which often show up right about this time of year, fishing for chum salmon. (WSB archives have photos from past years including 2009 and 2014.) The chum run might also be what has drawn the orcas we’ve been tracking today – though the Southern Residents prefer chinook, those salmon are harder to find right now.
Geebus. Can they please leave one damn fish for the Orcas? They’ve already ruined the chinook fisheries. Not a whole lot left out there. And there’s not even a great market for chum (dog) salmon. The administration of our state’s salmon fisheries is borderline criminal. Just one catch-and-release fly fisher’s opinion.
I’m with Chuck and PSPS…. Get the heck out of here and let the Orca’s have the salmon! Us humans have other ways to get our salmon without them netting, dragging the whole sound. This is just greed, greed, greed!
They do leave fish for the orcas. Those boats are in season and heavily regulated. People need to eat too, and contrary to sentiment there IS a market for chum or they wouldn’t be out there. Dang sport fishermen…dang commercial fishermen…dang dams…dang Atlantic farmed salmon…dang development. Everybody please take a breath and relax
TJ, I can appreciate the “chill” attitude, but death by a 1000 cuts is still a death. The ONLY reason there is anything like a market for chums is that the more desirable food fish (chinook) have been so depleted. After them, then what?
If this is a source of tension for ya than don’t go near the river during netting season…
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