The state of Washington has had (I'm sure many of you are aware) a commercial license buy-out program in place for a few years now. The amount given per license is based on the catch and income record of individual fishermen in target years. Those years did reflect what the state pinpointed as a period of decline in harvest numbers and income from harvest, I believe it was 1989 to 1993. The theorey was to take the high bounce of both numbers and average it out with low bounce and determine the amount of income lost due to lack of resources and diminished fiscal returns from netting. Now this is in a nutshell and someone please correct me if I'm off base. The point is, the netters are looking at buyout dollars based on high income years. The catch is, to qualify for a buyout, the state sets X number of dollars every year to buy out permits and get the effort from that permit off the books and water. Only so many netters are able to be bought out in a given fiscal year...in the whole state. I believe it is around 40 a year. Anyhow, the state sets a max $ buyout limit and the netters who have catch records that qualify for the buyout and who are willing to come in under the state set cap are eligible to sell. Many however, thinking that their permits are more valuable than what is offered choose to wait. I know of permits in the Willapa area that were bought back for over $75 and others rumoured to go in the $90k range. Current market value of permits is not an issue since there really is no value or movement in the market for permits. It's those apples that alot of the remaining commercial netters are waiting for.

To me this is a complicated procedure with alot of variables. The big $ that many commercial fishermen are hoping to get in the state buyout may or may not materialize. What the battle will be is that of offering the remaining netters enough dough to hang up the gear and mothball or sell the boats.

It isn't a neccessity to find money to buy the boats themselves. Normally, when a buyout is implemented on a commercial license the individual selling the license is not permitted to fish in that fishery or with that gear type again. There were buyouts in the 70's that also included a clause that directed that the boat had to be moved out of the state if it was to be used commercially again. But with the global crash of commercial salmon fisheries and commercial caught salmon, the demand for commercial salmon vessels is nil. In the Northeast I understand many of the large boats that participated in Fed. buyouts had to be scrapped...must have been big dollar buyouts.

Finally, one interesting note I heard in Westport today as I was picking up crab...tangle nets are manditory in the Columbia this year for non-tribal netters participating in the spring chinook fishery. In addition, they are required to have on board, a live tank, plumbed for circulation, for reccessitating wild spring chinook. When the fish is sufficiently recovered the tank is lifted over the rail, placed in the water, and a door is opened so the fish can swim away under its own power.

Thought that was an interesting note that indicates that the commercial netters left in the fishery are willing to fork out considerable money and effort to stay fishing. Might be an indication of how receptive they are to buyouts. Just some thoughts.

Thanks Salmo G. for an informative, provacative, and well thought out post. BTW...those cerise and orange marabou jiggy flies have been deadly for me this year...even if I'm *******izing the fine tradition of the two-hander by using them under a "bobber"!!

LT,

Although I began this thread on a day off sipping Zin until I felt really good, there are important points that seem to have been overlooked.

I have suggested no buyout of treaty Indian fishing rights. In fact, I encourage treaty fishermen to exercise their rights and heritage to harvest their ceremonial and subsistence needs. For coastal and Puget Sound rivers,I only suggested that we offer to be the buyers of their prospective commercial steelhead harvest. Just that we buy the fish on the conditions that they leave them uncaught in the river. This is not a buyout of treaty rights. I think my suggestion honors and respects the right, yet makes a reasonable business proposal in the form of a purchase of fish at a higher price than presently offered on the market. Just a slightly different form of purchase.

Chuck,

I'm not talking about the state buyout program. It's got the kind of strings attached that design it for failure, along with a limited budget. I'm suggesting going after the larger funding sources at the DSIs and NWPPC. They spend at least $200,000,000 per year on salmon restoration and ain't gettin' much for it. With a fraction of that money in the hands of covert license and boat buyers, more gear will be out of the fishery all the sooner. What if WDFW and ODFW opened a lower C. fishing period and nobody came? Actually, that could happen on a smaller scale. The marginal players in the gillnet fleet probably won't invest in the tangle nets and holding/release tanks. Too much expense for too little return. Of course, I could be wrong on this. Just don't lose sight of the larger picture here. I still think it is a design to produce winners. If people feel respected, treated fairly, and make money, there is a probability of them being interested.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.