I am curious to know, what the WDFW said or did, when it became apparent that the tribe took appox 11,000 Chinook, in the 3 day fishery in Elliott Bay, Lower river. While anglers were lucky to get 2,000 kings, in a fishery that provided the local economy approx $400,000
in revenue from gas,tackle,food,bait,launch fee,Beer, marine parts,etc,etc. The tribal fishery had no effect on the local economy but took 9,000 more kings than anglers did, Preliminary figures indicate with a continued elliott bay chinook fishery the local economy would see approx 1 million dollars in revenue that could be directly related to that fishery. I read a state document, that said the state is obligated to manage the resource in the best interest of the citizens of the state of Washington. Not on this occassion. Again I ask why not try to buy the tribes estimated revenue from that fishery. Keep the nets out of the water, no boat maintenance, no working all night on the water,etc ,etc and in turn they get the same income that they would normaly get. The state can make sure that the fishery does not exceed harvest levels due to the easy monitoring a fishery in a confined area like elliott bay brings. Its much easier to stop a fishery with each angler being able to catch 2 fish maximum, you can estimate fairly well how many fish best case scenario are going to be caught. With a 100 gillnets in the water it is impossible to know how many fish are going to get caught byany one net. So in a fishery where history has shown that an aggresive tribal fishery has and will again exceed harvest levels that resulted in escapement not being met, I say lets look at a way to fairly enjoy this fishery and protect it at the same time. This is not a anti tribal post but only my opinion.
    

could you post a link to support these numbers? im curious where this was coming from

and as far as the number of indian netted fish, i talked to someone who was down there when they were netting. the indians were selling kings straight out of the boats to the public down on river ave off of east marginal. STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOATS!!! he said there was no one counting fish, they would sell what they had and then head back out to check another net. he said he saw 8 or 9 boats going back and forth doing this. all the state can hope for is an estimation from the indians with no way to verify the numbers. as far as anyone knows, the indians could have netted double that number

Stiller, I will post the info on the dollars relating to the economic impact of the elliott bay fishery. I will also try to locate the info from previous sockeye fisheries,and what the recreational fishery contributed to the local economy. The dollar amount of the last sockeye fishery in the lake was HUGE. Not 2002. I am a little leery about the tribes behavior regarding selling uncounted fish. Hear me out. I was invited to monitor/observe the tribal fishery in action on elliott bay and the lower river from 1998-2000 this was from the tribal fisheries dept,and Mike Mahavalich their bioligist. I rode along on their enforcement boat on numerous occassions to observe and report on the netting activity,conduct of the fisherman and the resulting transport of the catch to an off load sight for sampling and sale to pre arranged buyers on shore. I was allowed full access with prior notification and also on random spot checks. I never had any problem with asking to view holding tanks, on board or asking for explanations of fish put to the side and kept by the crew. On every single occasion there was a state rep./sampler from WDFW at the off load site. the fish are brought up to the dock and the first thing thats done is a count by wdfw and the tribe does a count also. within minutes fish tickets are filled out to account for the catch by that boat. Each fisherman has a right to retain a few fish for himself, and regarding selling to the public I think most people on this board have seen tribal caught fish being sold at the boat or on the highway . I think with proper accountability and the buyer folowing certain WDFW rules after purchase i think it may be legal to some extent and is a common practice state wide. I am not praising the tribes or agreeing with their fishery management, but mike mahavilich and that fishery dept run a clean ship and they on more than one occassion have been 100% responsable for sport fishing seasons for us against the wishes of the WDFW. I disagree with the allocation at times but when our own WDFW takes no action or gives no explanation as to why the tribe took 90% of the harvestable fish and we get crumbs i tend to get angry with the state first then the tribes.As to the impact a sport fishery can have all one has to do is think about what goes into a days fishing for a guy and a buddy or two. Money spent getting the boat and the safety equipment up to speed, filling both tanks on board, oil for mixture, grab some new tackle for the trip, get the beer and food,bait,launching fees,getting the new liscense,etc,etc, Add to that any fish caught goes on the barbecue,or smoked,more costs there. Add to that the amount of marijuana and other goodies bought by many anglers you can see how it adds up.

fishingfool, the tribal fishery did have an impact on the economy but sadly in a negative way, because of the greed, two of the boats being over loaded with fish sank and none of the fish were salvaged i wonder if those fish were counted as part of the total?

Hey, I thought we were the ones responsible for wiping out an endangered species with our rods and reels.

11,000=50% Indians
2,000=50% Sporties

Isn't it wonderful how the "split" works out or has that changed now?

fp

This is the 2nd year for the lopsided figures, and WDFW signed off on the Elliott Bay Fishery seasons both times during the North of Falcon process with the Suquamish & the Muckleshoots. WDFW knew the harvest numbers were going to be skewed last winter when they OK'd the fishery. I don't know that the tribes can be blamed for WDFW rolling over and giving them everything they want at NOF.

Well so far everyone that's posted seems to agree that the closures in the bay has hurt everyone. I don't even get the annual boat launch pass any more. The boat house is not much of that, only time you'd launch a 14 ft. boat out the launch would be if the bay was open, the fresh bait is sometimes day old with gut rot and soft at times unlike Defiance, parking is a joke and if you didn't come early enough you'd have to park almost down to 7/11 and hitch hike back to the launch (wished the city would've made the park next to Salty's a launch/park combo so everyone could enjoy and get some extra revenue from it). Just reading this thread makes me not want to fish in the bay, BUT figured they did give us 6wknd openers instead of the usual 3 so might as well make the best of it. Maybe they had this all planned out in the beginning with the tribes. Possible conspiracy???????

Robert

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"DO THE WILD THANG"

P.S. why couldn't they extend the area to the lite house or down to Lincloln Park???? From my understanding the tribes have complained that the fish caught are Elliot Bay fish, all the way down to the park, and if that's the case, open it up with the bay. Would it hurt? Can it help to even the fish counts? More revenues?