sea lice on stripers

[tunajoe]

Hey fellas - for the rare striper that I keep, if it has sea lice on it, is there any harm? Don't know enough about them.

[Jigman13]

Just means they've arrived from the ocean. No worries. It's a welcomed sight!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Just means they've arrived from the ocean. No worries. It's a welcomed sight!

Exactly here is what they look like

[bbfisherman]

Kinda diminishes your taste for striper sushi though lol

[dakota560]

Have heard that for years so different question. What exactly are sea lice and why is it they seem to only appear on stripers coming in from the ocean. Don't seem to see them as much in the fall as in the spring, is it a seasonal issue. Do early arriving bluefish have them as well?

[Gerry Zagorski]

Have heard that for years so different question. What exactly are sea lice and why is it they seem to only appear on stripers coming in from the ocean. Don't seem to see them as much in the fall as in the spring, is it a seasonal issue. Do early arriving bluefish have them as well?

It's my understanding that the sea lice don't cope well with low salinity levels found in bays and rivers where fresh water gets mixed in... So, they thrive in ocean but not in bays and rivers. And yes, they are found on Bluefish as well and tend to attach themselves to the skin and gill plates.

[Sullivan]

Seen them on cod in the fall , fishing open bottom . I was told that they rolled in the sand to get rid of them .