I have followed this BB and others for the last year and a half and have come to a few conclusions. We as sport fishers are for the most part lazy and whiners. We complain about everything and everybody. From the tribes to WDF&W. Myself included. We complain about how wasteful the tribes are. But yet most of us will not say anything to a poacher or snagger much less call WDF&G. We complain about WDF&W's decision making process but most of the time we don't have the numbers/info to back our statements up. We trash each other because of our gear choices. We trash each other because some choose to keep a wild fish when legal to do so. Alot of us choose to not write letters or make calls when we need to about important matters. Alot of us waste water and elctricity. We drive cars and we use boats. We catch and kill/release fish as often as we can/or the wifes/gf's will let us. But yet we mitigate OUR IMPACTS on the fish the least! The fact is that WDFW has to make hard decisions based on the information they have(some of which may be flawed or outdated). They also have to try to make 350,000 sport, 3,000 tribal, and 1,500 commercial fishers happy(which is impossible). Most tribes make enormous contributions to the recovey of our fish. Does the Tulalip Bubble or the Nisqually king fisheries ring a bell. Thank the tribes for those opportunities. The tribes also do a helluva lot more restoration work then the government does. Keep in mind that the tribes have fewer illegal fishers than us sporties do. Most of what the tribes do happens behind the scenes. Netting just happens to be more noticable. What have we done to mitigate our impacts. Not much. Over the last three years I have been involved in 40 restoration projects in Snohomish County. Most of those have been streamside plantings. At these plantings most of the participants are boy/girl scouts, school kids and TREE HUGGERS! Most sportsmens club have a hard time getting help from their own members. Why is that? Because we are lazy and selfish! I put on a plant salvage on the 17th. I had almost 40 people turn out. There was myself, the county plant steward, his asst garderner, a county road crew member, almost 30 7-8 year old girl scouts and parents, and 4 fishermen! We will fish 365 days a year if given the opportunity but will we give up 1 saturday a month from Oct-Mar to plant along a stream or salvage plants to be put along a stream. Not a chance. We will come up with every excuse in the book to avoid this, especially if that excuse involves fishing! All the c&r and net free rivers in the state is worthless unless all those fish have good habitat to spawn in. Remember cutthroat, steelhead, and coho use those little tribs that run through our cities and wilderness areas. Those little tribs feed our main rivers which other salmonids spawn in. If you continue to c&r or c&k and do nothing to mitigate your impact than you are part of the problems and not the cure. Also if You are not mitigating your impact to the fish and the environment then you haven't earned the right to complain. Remember when you point a finger at another user group you have 3 pointed at yourself!
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR THE FISH LATELY?

Well said.

"We have met the enemy, and he is us." - Pogo

"You're either part of the solution or part of the problem." - Eldridge Cleaver

chumkiller, I think you hit the nail on the head!!! I recently wrote an e-mail to BB expressing the same concern that the sportsmen in this state talk the talk, but won't walk the walk!! There needs to be some organization among us so that we have some power to convince this state to pull their heads out. I would really like to talk to you further. It seems that you're commited to working towards the future. My e-mail is craigh@sellen.com.
Craig

Here's one more for your list,
SPORT ANGLERS NEED TO VOTE!

Right on chumkiller. You're an island of reason in a sea of irrationality, and sometimes right here in this place, idiocy and thinly veiled racism.

When are ya running for office BIG GUY.

Thanks for that posting----------very well said and hits home-------just dont have the time or damn the suns out but i guess if i want to go fishen next yr id better make time
thanks for the inspirational post
this finger pointen and bashin is a bore and makes a rotten day worse --we need more posts as of this

will

Sounds like an endorsement to sign up for membership in the Wild Steelhead Coalition, NOW! and get involved.

You are absolutley correct!!United we will stand- Divided we will fall.lester

Thanks for the good words. I'm not ready for office. I'm not PC enough. I am not a member of a fish related group. If I choose to become a member of a group it would be the Stiily/Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force. I do a lot of work with them. They are interested in enhancing habitat. And that is where my focus is. Why? I feel that if the habitat is repaired the fish will come(so to speak). As the fish return our opportunities will also return. Don't get me wrong. I love to fish(I'm a crappy steelheader but keep trying every year . Sometimes a little effort reaps large rewards.
In case anyone is interested the Task Force will be holding a planting for Earth Day at the park by the Lewis St. bridge in Monroe I think on April 21st. They can be contacted at: dave@stillsnofish.org or ann@stillysnofish.org Dave Ward is the habitat restoration manager and Ann Boyce is the volunteer coordinator for the Task Force. If you write tell them Oscar sent you.

For you c&r's on the OP I hope this rain has brought the rivers up some for you.

Tight lines.

Keep your eyes and ears open for a new website organization where you can get up on your soapbox and beeyotch, but you'll readily have access to the people that matter in the decision-making process. I agree there is too much singing and not enough bringing, and for the most part we need to nut up and shut up. We'll keep you updated. Some of y'all have already heard about it being in the works so you can give the overview if people ask. Divided we just blow air and spend money, and united we can kick some @ss and take some names...if we even want to remember their names....muh ha ha ha ha

Very good wake-up call. Doubtless, we all have our differences in this forum. But we all want a good fishing future and want to destroy thoughtless exploitation of our fish. Most of us believe wild fish should swim free. For people who want to further this cause, action is being taken and it is working! Join the WSC, they've already made headway. All it took was some coordination and, just like that, we achieved a key appointment. The more people who get involved, the stronger it will become. JOIN THE WSC and when someone asks "what have you done for the fish lately?" you'll have your reply.

I believe habitat is the smallest of the problems. Look at Alaska. The habitat is pristene, absolutely perfect, but the fish are declining at a rapid rate. Look at the Kenai River. There used to be abundant salmon fishing there, now you can keep 1 per year and it has to be over 40 inches long. Again, I'm talking about pristene habitat there. Look at the bottom fish populations in Puget Sound. True/Tom cod are almost extinct, the rock fish population is almost totally decimated, and when was the last time you heard about someone who caught a legal sized ling cod south of Port Townsend? The habitat in Puget Sound is perfect. All these fish are gone because of over harvest. Alaska is the biggest resource for commercial salmon fishermen. They only fish in Washington because they can get a tax write off from it. In 1987 or 88 (I forget exactly), the WDFW released a fleet of bottom draggers in Puget Sound. Bye bye bottom fish.

I agree that having good habitat is very useful, but it is hardly the main cause of low fish runs. What good is pristene habitat if the fish can't swim through the nets to get there? I do agree with everything else that was said, though. We should do more to preserve fish. We should not be afraid to donate money to good causes. Sportsman should get a good lobbyist. When I worked on the Ban All Nets initive, I was amazed at the lack of funding we were able to get from sportsmen.

[This message has been edited by WA fisher (edited 03-28-2001).]

Hey WA fisher I don't know what part of Alaska you are talking about but it is not perfectly pristine. Including the Keni.
There are many destructions to Alaska that you may not see as a tourist. Habitat matters every where and it does dictate the fishing. Commercial Harvest is a large cause for decline but not the only thing.
They have clear cutting going on In Alaska daily, Oil spills (Exxon Valdez) not too mention hundreds of other vessels dumping pollutants. Even drilling and and mining is still happening all over Alaska.
All these things contribute and are a major problem. The Habitat in puget sound is not perfect, when was the last time you were under water to see the habitat ?
For me it was last week. There is more crap and pollution in Elliot bay then I care to ever see. You can not point and blame it on a certain activity, it all affects it to a great deal. Look at all the 2 stroke motors out in the sound, you dont think they contribute to the depleation to the water quality? And I can tell you there are many places down south of PT Townsend where you can catch a health dose of Ling Cods. Good habitat does matter to the survival of fish along with banning nets.
Just my 02. cents...

Wafisher,
I agree that in Alaska the greatest detriment is the over harvest by the commercials. To some extent the same here in the sound and its rivers. I am not knowledgable about the habitat issues up north. My focus is that whatever fish do make it past the commercial and tribal nets in the sound& river, and the sport hooks in the sound and rivers has hospitable habitat to spawn in and for their offspring to grow and out migrate as healthy and strong smolts.
I realize this is not the only issue facing our fish but it is a very important one.:-)

Chumkiller, We can argue forever about habitat VS netting VS ocean conditions etc. The one thing in your post that I do wish to disagree with is the tribe's so-called contribution. The hatcheries on the reservations were paid for by the feds and the money to operate them also comes from the feds. The only tribal contribution is to occassionally provide the piece of reservation land that the hatchery is built on. For that the tribes get to net one-half of all the fish that you and I paid for. Not a bad deal for them. I know we can talk about mitigation for past wrongs done to the fish runs by whites, and I agree much of that is true. But lets give credit where credit is due. We taxpayers paid for the hatcheries and we are continuing to pay for the management and operating of them today and in the future. Enough said.

Longreleaser we would still get half the fish if we did,nt have our own hatcheries.I think people like WEYCO,SEATTLE PUBLIC UTILITIES,TACOMA PUBLIC UTLITIES,B.P.A,PUGET SOUND ENERGY and so on should be paying for the hatcheries.The people that put up the dams,and are taking all the water!!!!

Chumkiller, you make some good points about restoration and it's good to see you're actively doing something about it. A look at what Deer Creek has gone through over the years shows what can be done, and prevented, for future generations. That saga started before I loaded up my wagons and moved West but from what I know and have read about it, real change was brought by folks finally saying enough is enough and started getting involved.

There's lots of ways we can get involved with helping our fish and the environment in general. I'm always amazed that more fishermen/women don't see the connection between the two. Every kilowat you burn, every nasty batch of lanudry soap you drain and every stupid thing you do to make a green lawn has effects down the road.

Anyway, thanks for the wakeup.

Bruce

Longline-What percentage of the tribal hatcheries are funded by federal $$ ? Where did you find this info?