Southeast Region Fisheries Report

[cpierce]

Great doings in Southeast Idaho in 2012.

I thought the findings in this on the bird predations was really interesting. They are really putting a hurt on our fish. Lots of other good stuff too.
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[windriver]

Very interesting. Those birds are terrible. They are really eating a lot of $$$$.

Windriver
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[idaho_fisherman]

Them black cormorants are the worst thing there is as far as impacting fish populations since not only they can get down deep but can also stay underwater for like at least a couple of minutes at a time plus often times they flock in groups of 50, 100+, wish they would put an open season on them damn things & kill them all since they are nothing but a nuisance bird[bobmad]. Cormorants & pelicans are a big problem in the American Falls Reservoir too & in the river above and below the AF Reservoir. Not only every time they dump planter trout in the spring at the American Falls Reservoir over by Aberdeen the cormorants & pelicans end up getting like 80 - 90% of them in like a few days time I put most of the blame on cormorants on why the perch population in the American Falls Reservoir isn't near as great as what it could be but of course dropping the reservoir down real low on some years don't help either.

[LLOMichalchik]

Very interesting
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[PACKFAN]

Alot of interesting info in the articles, thanks for posting.
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[cpierce]

I agree. The birds are doing even more damage than I thought. F&G has evidence that they are taking 40% or almost half of the tagged fish. On the Blackfoot river the birds get up to 70% of the juveniles coming back to the reservoir and most of the adults going up. Stats like that means to me that in the untagged fish populations, both wild and stocked, they are decimating our waters. This is beyond a "set back".

I am hoping that with this kind of evidence of predation on our "endangered" Yellowstone and Bonneville Cutts we can get some reasonable action for removal of some of their numbers. They okay-ed it for the seals, now it's time for the birds too!
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[gstott]

Thanks for posting that, it was an interesting read. Those pelicans are even more out of hand than I realized. Wish they could gun down a couple hundred.

I had to laugh about the bass/bluegill article as Condie isn't likely going to get you a lot of nice bass anymore. Sounds like Glendale and Johnson will get some time from me this spring.
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[idaho_fisherman]

I agree, these birds are an invasive species that have become a problem not only in our SE Idaho fishing waters but in a lot of places across the USA & much more needs to be done about these nuisance birds than what's already being done in parts of the USA. It's too bad our stinkin fed. government has to be such crooks.

Like cpierce said if they are beginning to okay it for the seals it's time they do the same for the fish eating birds & begin to let the public shoot pelicans & cormorants like we can coyotes

[TheGrovBone]

That is UNREAL! I've been following the talk on the forum about the pelicans for some time, but this is the first biological report I've read about it. A know a few other waterfowl hunters that'd line right up and give the trout a helping hand. Thank you for posting this! I work for a non-profit company called Backcountry Hunters & Anglers - we primarily handle habitat related issues, but I'll pass this along up the chain!
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[coltergeist99]

Very interesting article. I never knew that the birds were quite that big of a problem in the area, but it makes sense.

I was a little disappointed there wasn't more on the whitewater releases in the Black Canyon. I live in Grace and once they started the releases the fishing below the dam all the way down river went to pot. Hot topic around here, and not just because of fishing.

Thanks for the link.
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[cpierce]

I agree with you on the water releases. They were put through by the kayak organizations.

The Bonneville Cutt study mentioned in this article is all part of the process to document what the releases do to the fish, and also to try and get the cutts reestablished in that area.

I really don't understand why the releases need to be on every weekend in the spring either.
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[cpierce]

Here are two videos from a couple of years ago that document some of the efforts and studies that F&G have done to try and save the Upper Blackfoot River Cutt runs from the pelicans. This has been an on going problem for quite awhile.

Higher water years really help.

The thing is, it really isn't just local to the Blackfoot R. They are depleting our fisheries all over the region. They'll fly from the nesting grounds to Wyoming or Am Falls no sweat. They eat an enormous amount of fish a day, and not just little ones. They can even eat a 3.5 lb fish.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khJ-0nB1Cls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7k8Qhfzw8s
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