An Indian fisherman recently caught more than Coho salmon in his gill net anchored just south of Duwamish Head.

Witnesses on shore, including a photographer, say he hauled a harbor seal pup into his boat, roughly untangled it from his net, and dumped it back into Elliott Bay - apparently dead.

This was Saturday morning, Oct. 20, in the shallows south of Anchor Park.

Fishermen at the local docks say other seal pups had been caught in gill nets, drowning three this month. Nets are anchored too close to a beach where mother seals haul out their pups while they hunt for salmon. Residents have complained to federal and tribal officials.

One such gill net was set on Thursday, Oct. 18. Robin Lindsey staked out the net for two days waiting for the fisherman to return. Lindsey is a nature photographer and a member of the Alki Seal Sitters, a group of volunteers who put up yellow tape to protect seal pups resting on West Seattle beaches.

At daybreak on that Saturday morning, she saw a seal pup had been caught. Nearby, an adult seal swam in and out of the net. Struggling, the pup took longer each time to surface for air.

Lindsey called the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She called Seattle Animal Control. She even called 911 for help.

"All of the above agencies said that they could not touch the net," Lindsey says. "Because it was tribal."

About 9:15 a.m., the fisherman returned. Lindsey photographed him as he hauled in his net and the seal pup tangled in it.

Three photos, posted on KOMO's Web site, show a man with shoulder-length, dark brown hair, dressed in waders and red rubber gloves, standing in a battered yellow-hulled skiff. The first photo shows a silver spotted seal pup hunkered in the bow, while the fisherman pulls away a surrounding web of green gill netting. In the second and third photos, the fisherman holds the pup vertical, his right glove gripping one flipper. The seal "stands," wide-eyed, as high as the fisherman's chest. The man pulls the pup from a tangle of netting, apparently ready to throw the pup back into the water.

"(He was) handling the pup very roughly," Lindsey says, "banging him against the gunwale of his boat at least twice and lifting his whole body weight by one fore flipper."

"He seemed unconcerned that there were witnesses on shore."

A fourth photo, posted on KING's site, shows a similarly dressed fisherman, also with red gloves. He is hauling a darker seal pup tangled in netting onto the prow of a different boat, this one with a white hull.

After the fisherman pulled in his net, he motored away, across Elliott Bay toward downtown. Witnesses watched for the seal pup to resurface. Lindsey says none did.

She e-mailed photos to local news media. Both KING and KOMO television ran news stories that evening.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 prohibits harassing, hunting, capturing or killing of animals such as harbor seals. Exceptions to the law include incidental catch during commercial fishing.

Kristin Wilkinson, with National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, says this case is not under federal jurisdiction. She is a marine mammal stranding specialist, coordinating the Marine Mammals Stranding Network for Washington and Oregon. She says this case has been referred to the fisheries director and tribal police with the Suquamish Tribe on the Kitsap Peninsula.

"They are handling it," Wilkinson said. "It is not a federal issue at this time."

Next week: Rob Purser, director of fisheries for the Suquamish, talks about manually-hauled gill netting from skiffs, the incidental catch of harbor seal pups, and one tribe member who has been fishing since the Boldt decision in 1974.

Matthew G. Miller may be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com