December 5, 2001

Dear Friend of Sportfishing:

This afternoon, the NW Sportfishing Industry Association reiterated our request that the Oregon Dept of Fish & Wildlife develop a model for the Columbia River Spring Chinook season with a high probability of a mainstem fishery through May 15th. The Department agreed to produce this model per our request.

Your support for a spring chinok fishery through May 15th is needed. Please call the commissions today (both Oregon and Washington) If you can only make one call in your state, call the Chair of the Commission. Oregon and Washnigton commission information is pasted below. Feel free to call NSIA with any questions. Don't forget the Washington Commission meeting tomorrow. I have attached the NSIA Testimony for tomorrow in WORD, and pasted at the bottom. Thank You!

Best Regards,

Liz Hamilton, Executive Director
Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association
PO Box 4
Oregon City, OR 97045
NSIALIZ@AOL.COM
503 631 8859
503 631 3887 fax

Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioners
To contact Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioners, please address letters to:
Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, Washington, 98501-1091
Phone: 360 902-2267 FAX: 360 902-2448 Email: commission@dfw.wa.gov
District
Name Phone/Fax Term Expires
Chairman,
Western WA Russ Cahil
5430 Libby Road NE
Olympia, WA 98506
Bus Fax: 360-357-4206
Res: 360-357-3929 12/31/06
Vice Chairman,
Western WA Will Roehl
3113 Eldridge Avenue
Bellingham, WA 98225 Bus: 360-733-4640
Bus Fax: 360-733-1230
Res: 360-671-2619 1/19/03
At Large Ronald D. Ozmet
622 Elochoman Valley Rd.
Cathlamet, WA 98612
Bus: 360 795-3440
Res: 360 795-3440 12/31/06
Eastern Washington Fred Shiosaki
E. 10406 Dean Avenue
Spokane, WA 99206
Res: 509 924-4657
Bus Fax: 509-924-0979 12/31/04
Eastern Washington Kelly White
1081 Potter Road, PO Box 335
Kettle Falls, WA 99141 Bus: 509-684-5050
Bus Fax: 509-738-4666
Res: 509-738-4790 1/19/03
Western Washington R.P. "Van" Van Gytenbeek
2021 1st Avenue Unit #A-6
Seattle, WA 98121
Bus: 206 443-3273
Bus Fax: 206-443-3293 12/31/04
At Large Lisa Pelly
6332 NE Hidden Cove Road
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Res: 206 842-0266
Bus Fax: 206-842-8741 12/31/04
At Large Dawn Reynolds
115 SW State Street, Suite 116
Pullman, WA 99163
Bus: 509 334-2880
Res: 509 334-2741 12/31/02
At Large Bob Tuck
270 Westridge Road
Selah, WA 98942
Bus: 509 697-9317
Res: 509 697-9140 12/31/06

Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commissioners
To contact Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commissioners, please address letters to:
Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission
PO Box 59, Portland, OR 97207
Phone: 503 872-5272 FAX: 503 872-5276
District
Name Phone/Fax Term Expires
Congressional District 1
Commission Chair John Esler
(3-WTC-BRHL)
121 SW Salmon Street
Portland, OR 97204
Office: 503-464-8563
Fax: 503-464-2944 11/30/03
Congressional District 2
Commission Vice-Chair Donald K. Denman
220 Laurel Street
Medford, OR 97501
Office: 541-772-6259
Fax: 541-770-6502 7/31/01
Congressional District 3 Paul N. McCracken
Tumac Lumber Co., Inc.
529 SW Third Ave, #600
Portland, Or 97201
Office: 503-226-6661
Fax: 503-273-2650 11/15/03
Congressional District 4 Zane Smith
37899 Shenendoah Loop
Springfield, OR 97448
Home: 541-726-6963
9/30/05
Congressional District 5 Jeff Feldner
1651 Moonshine Park Road
Logsden, OR 97357
Home: 541-444-2460
Fax: 541-444-7454 11/15/03
Western Oregon Vacant
Eastern Oregon Henry Lorenzen
PO Box 218
Pendleton, OR 97801
Office: 541-276-3331
Fax: 541-276-3148 11/20/01

Provided courtesy of: NORTHWEST SPORTFISHING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATON
PO BOX 4, OREGON CITY, OREGON 97045 * 503 631-8859, 503 631-3887 fax, nsializ@aol.com

December 5, 2001

Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioners

Russ Cahill, Chair 360-357-4206
Will Roehl, Vice Chair 360-733-1230
Ronald D. Ozmet 360 795-3440
Fred Shiosaki 509 924-0979
Kelly White 509-738-4666
R.P. "Van" Van Gytenbeek 206 443-3293
Lisa Pelly 206 842-8741
Dawn Reynolds 509 334-2880
Bob Tuck 509 697-9317


Re: Spring Chinook allocations for 2001, Columbia River.

Honorable Fish and Wildlife Commissioners,

On behalf of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, I am writing to express our views and concerns regarding the proposals put forth by staff in the "Green Sheet". We request that these comments be placed in the record as the official position of NSIA as testimony. A partial listing of NSIA membership is attached to this testimony.

We wish to thank the staff for the time and preparation put forth for these public hearings. We especially appreciate and are grateful to the Commissioners who were able to spend the hours driving to some of the meetings, listening to our views and sharing their thoughts with us. Their time and effort is gratefully noticed.

NSIA views will be categorized into general concerns and areas of support and agreement followed by specific concerns and recommendations.

GENERAL CONCERNS

It's The Economy.
¢ In his Inaugural Address in January of 2001, Governor Locke stated, "If we don't have businesses, we won't have jobs. It's that simple."
¢ On Wednesday, Oct 17, 2001 Governor Kitzhaber was quoted describing Oregon's unemployment rates as one of the top in the nation. In the same Oregonian article, the Governor announced that attracting more tourists to Oregon could give the state's lagging economy a needed jolt.
¢ WDF&W is facing budget cuts approaching 20% with the entire production of three hatcheries on the chopping block.
¢ ODF&W is being required to submit 10% budget cuts.
¢ Nationwide, tackle sales are down with the exception of the Northwest.

One can hardly pick up the newspaper without reading of recession. There is an exception to the bad news, a "bright spot" if you will, in the northwest economy: The Sportfishing Industry. The year 2001 is shaping up to be one of the best years on record. Thanks to mass marking, fisheries have been reopening throughout the region, fisheries that have been closed for years. In the case of the Columbia River Spring Chinook sportfishery, the closure has been decades.

In 2001, the mainstem fishery below Bonneville generated over 172,000 angler trips, and $18 million in economic benefit, which was felt around the region and in numerous small communities along the river. Indeed, in some stores not only were the tackle shelves difficult to keep stocked, but frequently they ran out of ice, chips and other so called "necessities" for a sportfishing trip. The figures used by NSIA are generated from a Federal survey done every five years through a grant from US Fish and Wildlife Service, dated in 1996.

A more recent, comprehensive study done by Idaho Department of Fish and Game demonstrates that in 2001 sport anglers were averaging $371.00 per fishing trip in direct expenditures. Idaho anglers harvested 43,300 salmon and spent $46.2 million this year doing so. According to Idaho Commissioner Alex Irby, "It picked up the economy lost from other endeavors". (See enclosed article.)

The successful spring fishery is still playing itself out financially around the Northwest. Even with water conditions not conducive for catching fall fish, anglers still visited our stores in droves, driven by their early successes of the spring fishery. In other words, the wave of enthusiasm set up by the early season has carried our industry throughout this year.

The untold part of this story is what we did not accomplish, and what we hope to accomplish for 2002. According to ODF&W staff, approximately 25,000 additional angler trips were left on the table due to an inadequate allocation of Snake River impacts to the sport fishery. Imagine what another $2.5 Million might mean in our current economic climate. Imagine how important additional tag sales will be to inadequate agency coffers. Do we dare, or can we afford to make the kinds of choices that do not maximize our benefits to northwest communities, our industry and our fish and wildlife agencies. To once again quote the Idaho Statesman article "…The key to the success was the 135-day season." Does Washington need these dollars less?

With the allocation of Spring Chinook in 2002, you have an opportunity and a responsibility to make Washington's economic situation better.


Staff Has Not Obtained Any Sort Of Consensus With User Groups.
Members of the sportfishing industry have attended every meeting that we have been asked to participate in for the allocation of Spring Chinook. To date, we have seen none of the models we have asked for, and have had a difficult time receiving basic information, such as the final report on this year's tangle net experiment. We understand that agency staffs have participated in meetings to develop matrixes and models that we were not a part of developing. When staff(s) positions are represented in writing, it generally reflects what is being stated by the commercial industry at the meetings, while utterly failing to reflect what the sportfishing industry, our allies and customers are articulating during the public forums.

While staff bias may not be an accurate portrayal of the situation, it is very strongly a public perception. It must be addressed, since it is creating a great deal of public distress and ill will for the majority of stakeholders in the process. These are the same stakeholders who pay much of the freight for the agency, and have in the past gone to the bat for the agency budgets. We deserve a sincere and real effort by department staff to correct this perception. At the very least there should be a level playing field, even though in reality we do represent a larger stakeholder group who has worked very hard to deliver everything we have been asked. It is apparent that the agencies are not as adept and comfortable in working with and for the needs of the sportfishing industry as they are with the commercial fishing industry. This is understandable, but needs to be corrected immediately. Clear commission direction combined with appropriated staff time will help move this in a positive direction.

Again, the staff proposals reflect a lack of sportfishing perspective and sensitivity, and are very good representation of what the commercial fleet has been asking for at the meetings. Subsequently you will only find a minority support for the staff proposal in the public testimony. We ask that you seriously consider this when you are reviewing the staff proposals.

One Year Agreement.
NSIA does not support a multi-year agreement at this time. We have three reasons for this:

1. Sport fishing in the Columbia for Spring Chinook for all intents and purposes has been closed since 1977. We simply don't know enough about how our fishery will perform, and what our needs are with only one year of data. The same can be said for the commercial fleet.
2. The drought conditions for outmigrants, juveniles and adult spawners for the year 2001 could have dire consequences on the population. We could be managing under a whole new ball game with these consequences.
3. The Spring Chinook sportfishery is every bit as valuable to our industry as the fall fishery in the Columbia. The fall agreement is still managed on a year-to- year basis.


For now, we think it is wiser and addresses important conservation goals to manage on a one-year agreement. These fisheries are just too new.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Enforcement
When the sportfishing community committed ourselves to selective fisheries we set about it responsibly. Our folks participated with universities and agencies to produce multi-year studies on selective fisheries for Spring Chinook. Staff from the National Marine Fisheries Service has indicated that the three year study in the Willamette is "excellent". Additionally, we were required to hire enforcement agents to ensure unmarked fish were released.

Tangle net fisheries are extremely inconclusive at this date. Canada, who leads the US in their promotion and development of selective fisheries has been studying tangle nets since 1998 and has yet to decide to go fleet wide. In fact, at a two-day symposium in 2000 in Portland about selective commercial fishing the Commercial fisherman from Canada indicated that the only method that met biological and financial criteria was to use live traps and floating nets. Before you rush headlong into endorsing multi seasons for tanglenets, these issues must be settled:
1. How valid are the assumptions going into the management of the tanglenet fisheries?
a. What are spawning conversion numbers?
b. Where are the studies regarding multiple interceptions? Frequently, fish do not bite after be released by a sport angler. In muddy water or at night, they will become re-entangled multiple times.
2. Is there adequate funding for monitoring?
3. Is there adequate enforcement?
a. How enforceable are 30 minute soak times at night? IS there night time enforcement provided for the fishery?

The sportfishing community provided data and enforcement to ensure that biological criteria to protect wild fish are met. It is important to hold the Commercial Fleet to the same standards.

How Did We Get Here And Where Are We Going?
Approximately 7 years ago, NSIA went to the Northwest Congressional Delegation in Washington, DC to secure the funds to mass mark spring chinook. At the same time, we started working in Salem and Olympia to secure state funds. NSIA does this work every year, since federal and state funding for hatcheries and mass marking dollars are not guaranteed. Some state agency managers told us that we did not need to mark spring chinook because there are not wild spring chinook left. NSIA worked diligently with the managers to develop fisheries that met and exceeded conservation goals when the fish numbers were low. We spent $15,000 of industry dollars to fund state police and banners at boat launches to conduct the first experiment fishery for catch and release of Spring Chinook. Untold thousands have been spent on newspaper advertising and posters to educate anglers on catch and release methods. (See enclosed newspaper ad/poster.) The NMFS take permit letter to ODF&W for the Willamette Fishery specifically mentions NSIA's efforts as a rational for permitting a selective fishery.

What this boils down to is: Our organization has invested a tremendous amount of resources to get to where we are today. We can fish selectively, exceed conservation goals for the species, and contribute significant economic benefit to communities along the river and throughout the northwest. Thanks to the conservation work of the sportfishing community for selective fisheries, there is room for the commercial fleet to fish today! We are looking forward to a future where we can regain some of the 10,000 jobs the industry lost during the 90's. (See attached chart)

Many things have changed and are changing in the seafood markets since the Columbia was open back in the 1970's-The seafood industry has shifted in the last decade to pen-reared salmon in a way that none of us would have imagined. This has driven prices down to a point where it is becoming less and less profitable for Columbia River commercial fishers to operate. We read that many did not even fish recently due to lack of a price that would even cover gas in their boats. I spent a week in November with the leadership of the Seafood industry on an advisory committee to the Secretary of Commerce that I serve on (Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee). They were adamant that pen reared fish (not only salmon) would be their future for stable, fresh seafood supplies to the market. For those in the Northwest who do not fish, the tribes have become the suppliers to the public. Much has changed in the last decade.

We bring all this to your attention to ask you to frame your thinking about these fisheries in context. Where have we been and where are we going?


SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS

Columbia River Sport Fishery
¢ NSIA supports a selective fishery! We support a 2 fish bag limit, 7 day per week fishery with the goal of reaching Memorial Day fishing in the mainstem below Bonneville
¢ NSIA supports a one-year agreement.
¢ We do not support the matrix. We do not define the current staff proposals as "equitable".
¢ We support economic gains for the tourism, boating, fishing and other communities that benefit from local and out of area fishers and their families.
¢ We ask that the sportfishing industry economics have the same language of support in the guiding principals as the commercial industry.
¢ WDF&W budget needs the maximum license revenues it can obtain from this fishery.


Working With Staff.
It is disappointing to submit testimony that is not in concurrence with staff after so many public hearings. Again, only a minority of sportfishers support the staff proposals. We believe that this is a situation that can and must be remedied. We have meaningful contributions, which we present in a positive manner, and still we have been overlooked. We look to the Commissions for recommendations and support as for how to develop more constructive working forums with the qualified staff your agency has at its disposal. Surely, serving the same customers, our goals should be very similar, and we can find a better way to work towards our common goals. We are committed to this.

In Closing.
This is a wonderful place for the commission to be. You have the opportunity to maximize the sportfishery in the Columbia giving the region the most economic benefit for the resource. You have an opportunity to connect even more citizens to our salmon and our heritage. Remember, tens of thousand of Washingtonians bought licenses to fish in the Columbia. You can help your budget by protecting and maximizing license and tag sales. Hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians sportfish, and they support tens of thousands of jobs in our industry. You can provide for a commercial fishery. All of this can and will happen while meeting the conservation goals for recovery of imperiled stocks! These are big decisions, and we thank and applaud the commission and agency staff for seriously considering our testimony. We are prepared to continue working on these goals in whatever forum is necessary. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association


Liz Hamilton
Executive Director

Make that Sport Fishing......duh!