Are the tags used small orange circles over the fishes back? If so I have counted over 30 chum with tags on them this year.
Yes those are the tags. They are called Peterson tags. There are several different colors out they but generally orange in color.
The grizzly I saw was a cub. Might be shot now as it was on Native land and not afraid of people. But maybe not, they tolerate the presence of "3 toe", a black bear with, you guessed it, 3 toes.
Damn well better not have been shot by anyone as they are 100% protected in this area. The Squamish Nation supports the grizzly recovery and will not back any of their members if a bear is killed by them. That being said it has never been an issue.
Most people would be surprised to know how many grizzlies are actually in the valley ( up to 50 seasonly) and how close they come to town ( one in the garbage dump last year) and I ran into one earlier this fall that was on the lower Squamish. Walked in on him about 15 minutes after first light at the waters edge while he was feeding on dead chum. Was about 50 feet away and he was 600+ lbs. All I can say was that his my friend was huge as he was walking away. Was with my bear biologist buddy and all he said was " Well that is a good one".