What's the deal? There are over 2,000 registered people on this BB and only 75 of us care about the preservation and rebuilding of our wild steelhead stocks? Something is really wrong here. I dont make it to any of the meetings due to my geographic location but the WSC still has my support! Come on people this group is trying to rebuild and preserve what we hold so dearly to our hearts. I think its worth 40$ a year dont you? You spend more than that on a last minute trip to the fishing gear store. You've got to think long term here people.

The apathy has surprized me too! It appears that alot of the ranting and raving is just alot of hot air. How the net issue can bring out such passion, and statewide release of wild steelhead- ho-hum. I believe that wild steelhead release will help to corral the nets.

Got the applications from Ryan several months ago. Will be submitting mine and the $ this week. If one of you guys can forward a packet of information, etc. I will bring them to some of the tackle shops in Michigan and Wisconsin. May not pick up many, but I think you could pick up a few members from the Midwest. Mostly guys who head out that way each year to fish. Right now, there is a rift involving the limits (5 per day) in Wisconsin, and there is a proposal to cut the limit in half, in order to maintain our fishery. There is also a lot going on to push for C & R for the natural spawners in Michigan. I can tell you that there has been little to no resistance on releasing wild fish in Michigan. The check will be in the mail.

Rich: Good post. Thanks for stepping up and speaking your piece. Heck, that isn't always easy when your piece is trying to convince people to do what you consider to be right, because you risk facing the backlash: Many folks will call you--if not out loud then at least in their heads--a self-righteous snob trying to impose your values on them. (Fortunately, I think a lot of us on this board share the same values, and it seems like most of the people here are solid individuals, WSC members or not.)

I'm in full agreement with you. If the WSC had a dime for every complaint on this board about netting, snagging, bonking natives, etc...

Good fishing everyone. And if you get a chance and have a couple spare twenties, join up with the WSC if you haven't already.

After all, it's for the fish. Which really means it's for the future.

I belong to the Sky Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited and we hosted Todd Ripley and Duggan of WSC as guest speakers at our last meeting. I think that those in attendance enjoyed the presentation and that our chapter is pretty well aligned with WSC's beliefs. Many of the people on this board may be members of other clubs (T.U., PSA etc.) which may be why they haven't joined WSC. Those of us actively involved in a club already spend a lot of money on chapter activities and on the many fundraising
events. Many may already be stretched to the limit financially and time-wise.
The only negative I have heard from sports anglers about WSC so far is that there is a perception that WSC is anti-hatchery. The message I got is that they are for hatchery-reform... but the "rumblings" are that there are some very strong anti-hatchery members within WSC..that is the scuttlebutt I hear, right or wrong.

Kevin

I would like to set the record straight on the WSC and Hatchery Reform. As many of you are aware, the WSC mission statement and action plan each contain a number of action points. Each of these was chosen because of its impact on wild steelhead. After all, the WSC is an organization dedicated to increasing the return of wild steelhead to the waters and rivers of the Pacific Northwest.

These action points were then prioritized so as to allow the organization to focus on those issues that could best be impacted in the short term. In other words, statewide C & R of wild steelhead was chosen as the top priority both because it was determined the most important issue and because there is a current window of opportunity given this year's WDFW major rules change cycle.

Further down the list of priorities falls Hatchery Reform. The mission statement includes: Hatchery programs must be closely examined and be carried out in such a manner that the negative impacts on wild fish are removed or minimized. This just says that wild fish need to be taken into consideration when evaluating hatchery programs.

The WSC is not anti-hatchery. The WSC is primarily comprised of fishermen and women. These are people that have a passion for steelhead fishing and in many cases (myself included) structure their lives around the pursuit of this passion. The last thing in the world we want is to do away with hatcheries. The simple truth is, if there were no hatcheries, there would be few if any steelhead fisheries in Washington.

Given that we all recognize the need for hatcheries, the question now becomes what can be done to make sure hatcheries become both more efficient while at the same time minimizing the impacts on wild fish. That is what the WSC means by Hatchery Reform.

One example of reform would be to promote the use of local stock to maintain genetic diversity rather than planting all our river systems with a single stock (i.e. Chambers Creek fish). Another example would include shifting hatchery evaluation models away from poundage of smolt production and towards percentage of returning adults. After all, you don't hear a farmer bragging about how many pounds of seed he put into his field. His measure of success is the yield at harvest. That should be one measure of a hatchery program as well. Above all the WSC stands for making sure that science instead of politics is used to guide decision making.
Finally, I read above that "the "rumblings" are that there are some very strong anti-hatchery members within WSC". I don't personally know all the members or even all the trustees but this is quite possible. Just as there are a wide range of opinions within the Republican and Democratic parties, I am sure there are an equally wide range among WSC supporters. My question to you is, does that matter? What matters is the WSC board of directors understands the importance of hatcheries and is dedicated to increasing the number of wild fish in our rivers. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Hatchery fish are for the table, wild fish for the future!

Oh by the way, thanks to RichG for starting this thread . I too get a little ticked off when I remember back to November and the hordes of concerned anglers who stepped up and vowed to do whatever was needed to bring back the fish and the fisheries. There were pledges of membership, time and money. Some followed through but the majority have not. Come on guys, there is a real opportunity to make a change here if we all band together and demand it. If not, we can all meet back up at Ted's this winter and vent again about how badly we have been treated. The choice is yours, I've made mine.

Duggan Harman
WSC Board President

How do I become a memeber and how much does it cost???

FISH ON!!!

:p

WSC membership information can be found at the WSC website at wildsteelheadcoalition.com

Duggan

The thing that bothers me the most is the low turn out rate in our BB. Less than 5%. I know that the WDFW peaks at this sight every now and then, if not more frequent than that. Im sure they also know where the WSC originated, from this BB. they see all the people that ***** about the issues such as netting, hatcherys, C&R, lack of inforcement and so on, on this board. But when they have an opportunity to come together and state thier opinions and concerns as an orginized group most of them dont. After all the ranting and raveing ive seen here and been involved in the past couple of years and finally some of the people that really cared made the WCS happen. Now only 5% join, the WDFW sits back and says "do they really care? Must not! all they have to do is pay $40.00 and sit back and let somebody else do all the hard work and they dont even do that". What kind of message are we really sending the WDFW.

The WSC will make an impact even with 75 members. But think if even 75% of this board joined? And each if those 1,500 members just told one other person and so on.

I most likely am going to make some people upset over this post but I dont care! Maybe it will put a fire under a few peoples rear ends. Im 24 years old and whant to be able to fish for wild steelhead when Im 80. If things dont start happening now ill be fishing for bluegill when Im 80.

So, did my post help anybody decide to join?