Found this article in the Tacoma New Tribune's web page: Chum Litter

Banner year? Yeah I'll buy that. Matter of fact, I love fly fishing for Chums. Pound for pound, I'll put them up against anything. However, the waste just torques me. This has been an ongoing thing in Washington for a few years. Your thoughts?

Downriggin'

Last year during the Hood Canal Fishery they had to haul the dead fish out to the center of the canal and dump them. What a waste!

not quite sure if i like the way he wrote that article though..i think it came out with the tribes gettin a stick poked at them

The natural life cycle of the chum is to reproduce in the lower reaches of the rivers,die and supply food for the food chain.All the canal r. naturaly flush out by the end of dec leaving the majority of the salmon carcasses out in the middle of the canal anyways.That is where nature puts them so why would I not want man to do the same?

That article is an example of emotions and has little to do with the truth.

well the way i look at is, they "natives net the chum" cuz there is a over abundance, but what about fall kings on the green which are off limits for "whites" but are ok for the taking by the "natives" its FUBAR, well if they fish it for kings,then i will too.. modern day racism b.s.
**berkley boy**

I couldn't bring up the link to the article, so cannot comment specifically.

Chum salmon do very well generally in Puget Sound (& HC) rivers. I like to see the benefits of that productivity returned to the local area. Japan used to purchase most of the chum catch, but that market has waned, and it seems to increasingly be a roe fishery as carcass prices have bottomed out. Ya' know, it may look ugly as hell, but if the commercial fishery just harvests the roe, I'd like to see those carcasses littering Puget Sound rivers and estuaries.

Here's a little thought. Maybe the price of admission to a roe fishery, herring, chum, whatever, should include the requirement to avoid resource waste by placing the carcasses where they will do the most environmental good. Yeah, too logical; it'll never happen.

As for chum attributes, they do pull hard on a fly rod. Too much like work; I'll stick with sea runs and steelhead; they're more like sport.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.