I-bet you big time policy changes are coming regarding management of the Salmon rescource,, from above the state level..

Treaties and agreements with other interested nations regarding our share of the salmon will likely be re negotiated for an agreement more in our favor…

It will be interesting see how the tri-partitite negotiations go between Canada, Alaska, and the United States. Then throw in the First Nations and Treaty Tribes. I don't see much different coming down the line because nobody really is interested in conservation of the fish.

Very interesting! Unpredictable at best! Hope positive for our salmon. We in WA don't want another salmon war. We know that means less for us. If tariffs/taxes piss off Canada enough, I can see a greater rape and pillage of more of our salmon destined for here. And AK retaliating on top of that. It all means less for WA. You can bet Trump and his adm. could care less of our plights here in WA, or the West coast for that matter. To him, all our salmon are, is a bargaining chip. Time will tell and trying to stay positive. https://watershedwatch.ca/stories/remember-the-salmon-war/

If giving Canada all the lower 48 salmon in trade, say, for much cheaper and more oil then he'd probably do it. Everything is negotiable to him.;

I never noticed much difference between R's and D's over the years with fisheries at the federal level. State maybe but it was only at staffing. Remember it was a D that got us Anderson.

On another note Mike Scharpf has taken the position in Puget Sound that Chad Herring had. This oportunity came about because Chad took the Region 6 Fish Program Manager position.

For the record Mike will be missed. You can disagree with him without it getting out of hand. Not that common anymore.

Chad has been here before 10 years or so ago working with RW and knows the ground so he will not have that much of a learning curve.

Good luck to both.

That's good for Mike. Was he still commenting from Olympia?

yup a far as I know. 21 years of memory is something for staff nowadays. I liked doing business with Mike.

Good for him. Institutional Memory is a rare thing now.

The CCA sent out a news letter and this was one of the items.


Commission Reform Legislation
On Wednesday, February 19, the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on two bills reforming the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission and the governance of WDFW.

House Bill 1685 would make WDFW a cabinet agency with the Director selected by the Governor. The Commission would become an advisory body and would no longer retain the authority vested in it though 1995’s Referendum 45, which includes hiring and firing the Director and setting policies for WDFW. While we are concerned about the lack of accountability in WDFW’s current governance structure and recent actions of the Commission, CCA Washington will be joining a coalition letter expressing concerns with HB 1685 to make WDFW a cabinet agency.

House Bill 1930 would change how the nine fish and wildlife commissioners are appointed. Under the bill, one commissioner would be selected to represent each of WDFW’s six regions by the county commissioners within each region. Three commissioners would be appointed at large by the Governor subject to confirmation by the Senate with requirements to ensure geographic diversity.

If you would like to sign up to testify remotely on either bill or note your position for the hearing record, you can do so up to one hour before the 8:30AM hearing here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/CSI/house?selectedCommittee=31649&selectedMeeting=32817