Here is a list of a list of "in-house" proposals that the State has talked about regarding the North Sound spring steelhead fisheries. These were discussed at the public meeting the WDFW held at Mt. Vernon last night. There is a similar meeting at the Mill Creek office tonight from 7:00 to 9:00. I know this is late notice but if anyone is interested, we could always use more pro-fish anglers there.

The proposals are listed below. I have bolded the last one as it is the one that concerns me the most. The others sound somewhat promising.

--Change steelhead annual and daily catch limit from 2 fish per day and 30
fish annually to 2 fish per day only one of which can be of wild origin. OR
maintain current daily and annual limits and require all wild fish to be
released.

--On the Green River, Snohomish River system, Stilliquamish system, and the
Skagit River system, during the months of December, January, and February,
eliminate wording in the pamphlet allowing the retention of wild steelhead.

--Eliminate steelhead catch and release wording and seasons from the
pamphlet for the Skykomish River in March and April and in the North Fork
Stilliquamish River for the period March, April, and May. (Not sure if this is designed to allow hatchery retention during these months or to close the fishery all together -- DH)

Thanks,
Duggan Harman
WSC Board President

did they say anything about the skagit sauk 2002 season for catch and release?

Not that I'm aware of but all the information the WSC has been getting says no spring fishery again on all the north sound rivers.

Duggan

Sinktip, are these proposals for real or we being teased into thinking things might be different? Thanks to WSC for trying to change a bad policy (stupid is a better word)into a good one for all concerned fishers. Thanks.

I spoke with Curt Kraemer this afternoon about this issue. According to him, these are just ideas that WDFW is throwing around in-house. It appears though that they are pretty serious about ending any March-April fishery on the Skykomish and possibly Stilly as well. Kraemer says that their projected returns are so low for the next 3-5 years that they don't forsee allowing even a C&R fishery. Their thinking is they would rather close it down then have emergency closures every year.

As for the Skagit and Sauk, the early data suggests stronger returns to this system. As it stands now, there is a chance at a spring fishery in 2002. This determination will be made after examination of the final data.

Kraemer also spoke about the high number of redds being reported on the Sky since the June opener. He reports that the data they have collected shows river conditions have allowed the redds to remain visable longer than in normal years. (I originally cited this as an opinion rather than data based. My apologies if this was misleading.-- dh) He stressed that these increased redd reports do not equate to a strong return but rather just longer lasting visual evidence of the redds.

Sorry to bring such gloomy news.
Duggan Harman

[ 06-21-2001: Message edited by: Sinktip ]

[ 06-22-2001: Message edited by: Sinktip ]

I attended last night's WDFW rules meeting, and here are a few thoughts on what I heard.
WDFW thinks it makes sense to "turn the tables" on the current regs by closing March-April fishing on the Snohomish and Stilly because they expect the recent low escapements to continue for (at least) the next few years. Their thinking is that calling for emergency closures is a hassle for them, and given their expectations for poor returns they are almost certain to close the Snohomish/Stilly CnR seasons next spring. I asked Curt Kraemer about 2001 escapements and he said the Snohomish numbers haven't been finalized, but he expects them to be around 70% the escapement goal (about 4000 fish total). On the Sauk/Skagit, returns were a little better and they MIGHT have a fishery next spring (I guess they are still working up the redd count numbers). According to guidelines in the Wild Salmonid Policy, a CnR fishery requires escapements of at least 80% of the goal.

I have some philosophical problems with this proposal. First, it would require an "emergency opener" to get the seasons
back. They do not do in-season assessments on winter steelhead returns, so there will never be an emergency steelhead opener in a season where escapements are adequate. Instead, they'd likely have to be lobbied to open seasons for the year after escapements met or exceeded spawning goals. This isn't a bad thing, since it surely errs on the side of conservation and allows a good return to do their thing. Second, and most problematic to me, is that it's effectively saying that the "normal state" of North Sound winter steelhead fisheries are so depressed that they're EXPECTED to miss escapement goals, and the ONLY agency response is closing seasons (March -April CnR plus the Dec-Feb wild steelhead harvest). "Emergency Openers", to me, is aiming awfully low in our expectations and these would tend to diminish public recognition of the crisis that's at hand.

They are selling this as a fish first policy. Maybe so, but going with this rule change would make life easier for WDFW by moving the low returns out of the public eye. Why should we agree to make life easier for an agency who's mismanagement has contributed to widespread declines in the health of our fisheries? Either way, we will not get a spring fishery until the year after we see escapements exceed that 80%-of-goal mark. In the end, I think Emergency Closures make a heck of a lot more sense than "emergency openers".

So, what to do? Join the WDFW and pray for help from Mother Nature? Definitely. But we need to get active, to keep sending letters, attending meetings, and letting the agency know that we're concerned and we may have other perspectives and values than those that brought us to this point.

Nate I agree with you, keep the heat on and dont let WDFW forget who got us into this mess. WDFW had the opportunity every year to err on the side of conservation and head off problems we are having now. Lets make sure they do the right thing now.

Turn up the heat! Also, go to their website and download the 2002 Rules Change form and submit it! Someone here was good enough to post the URL, maybe they still have it? Get this form to everyone you can and get it back. If you don't do something, you have no room to whine and moan! See, I can complain all I want now......also get involved locally(TU, WSC, something) and get speakers from the various comittees, then you can speak up face to face.