Okay CFM ... I'll bite.
I'm not quite sure where this vendetta of yours is coming from based on the fact that you've spent your life around a river of hatchery fish that is very unlike most of the rivers that are affected by the recent decision.
it's clear that you disagree with the beliefs of most WSC members, that's fine. Don't join. It's not for everyone, no "group" is.
As Jerry has stated as a fledgling group, not all stances / situations have been fully hammered out. What will follow is NOT offical WSC poilicy, but I know that many within the group share many of these same feelings.
From MY standpoint, this is how I feel, and I know many in the WSC will agree on most:
1) Permanent. No more, nada. The state of WA had enough sense 75 years ago to decommercialize these fish. I persoanlly feel it's grand time to treat them as a sport fish and not a food fish. Throughout most of the year, hatchery steelhead can be found somehwere in this state in appreciable numbers, so if it's about killing them for food, those anglers have that opportunity. I also don't buy the wallmounter argument either as there are now a number of taxidermists that specialize in mounts w/o a dead fish. Our time is coming, like it or not. Only so many fish to go around. Other parts of the country have accepted C&R without too much issue for a number of the billfish species and bass. Hell, even the Kenai peninsula where I spend my summers ... where thousands locals flock in droves to scoop up certain species of salmon in gillnets and dipnets ... the people have accepted the idea of C&R for wild steelhead. It's not the end of the world, trust me!
2) N/A, see #1.
3) Personally, perhaps never. If there ever comes a day when I see this fish physically fighting to spawn on top of one another or that I can somehow be guaranteed that the system cannot support even one more fish .. then maybe.
4) See #1 and #3, not likely in my book. And if for some reason, yes, it would be under a wide slection of criteria: all aspects of run healthy from timing, to natural age-class distribution, to natural levels of repeat spawning females -- one of the most important members of the steelhead community.
5) Not too different than #1 in my book. You do NOT have to have a consumptive fishery to have a successful one. This comes not only from a personal standpoint, but also that of one engaged in the fishing industry.
6) The effort to maintain these runs and angling opportunity just doesn't have a finsihing point. As is evident, there are a number of factors that influence these runs ... they will never all go away. C&R is the easiest, most direct way of lessing our impact on these fish with the total cessation of all fishing. Any regardless of the propaganda that some spew, that isn't what we all want is it? Kill them off so we get to apoint where we have no choiuce but to end all fishing? If you can honestly answer "Yes" to that, then frankly, I could care less about your opinion and you have nio right to consider yourself a sportsman of any type.
7) I touched on this briefly before ... when all aspects of a population can be considered healthy. It's an impossibilty to answer this question. If we (WSC or WDFW or Joe Blow angler) had the magic answer, this whole discussion would be moot! We work with 20+ year-old models on the primary coastal rivers, in some cases where wild steelhead retention
has been allowed, we don't even know the first thing about some of the runs ... the smaller creeks are a good example. What are the "real" numbers in terms of historical run sizes or tru carrying capacity or how many fish were of certain age classes or ...???
Talk to some of the folks that have been in this area long before Boldt or my lifespan, and you really start to wonder if we're even close!
8) To many, increased opportunity and increased success is a far better use of a resource than increasing harvest. Does crowding everyone into one section of river or a short fishing season increase opportunity or better the experience. I think not, and many others feel the same way. With the seond portion of question #8, you're twisting words. At no time has the WSC or myself condoned fishing of any sort on runs that are on their last legs. What that might mean is that you can continue to come fish the Bogachiel for hatchery fihs in Decemeber when there are few wild fish left, but you won't be able to crack that now rare December nate that you might possibly catch on the head. For all those that subscribve to the theory of "You should quit fishing for them", are you ready to tell me that you'll forgo any early season fishing opportunity and only fish in April ... when the numbers of wild fish are the strongest and that's when they MIGHT be able to support the harvest? I didn't think so.
9) OY for example takes socio-economic factors into consideration. That would be one option. Example: we have 100 fish over our goal. Do we have a one week kill season to harvest this 100 fish OR do we have a couple of months of fishing in which 100 fish are filled through incidental mortality. As a guide, I know the answer in my book. If you presented that exact scenario to most local bisinesses, I think they'd also choose the latter. That's part of looking at other models. perhaps we ight even go a step further and look towards models that put maximum numbers of fish in the river period ... instead of seeing what the most we can can take out would be. Not only does the later scenario make for the best quality fishing, it also gives more room for error on the behalf of the fish if for some reason we might have something like: a flood, poor ocean conditions, overharvest by tribal nets ... oh none of that happens, does it?
10) Oh no, you got me! But harvest of hatchery stocks is still something that myself and the WSC does support. As I mentioned, hatchery steelhead are available most of the year. If cracking one on the head is what it's all about to you, I'd suggest either visiting your local seafood market or participating in bratfest
11) All aspects of the H's. Perhaps go to a meeting and listen to some of the guest speakers. Many members are trying to educate themselves and the group as to all the factors that affect these fish. Over time, I would imagine that as connections and mebership grows, that other issues can be addressed. As I mentioned previously, the easiest way to immediately lessen our impact on these fish short of cessation of fishing is to let them go ... thus , goal #1.
12) Here are some identified issues per Steelhead Summit III ... I will refer back to the answers in this brief to answer other questions later:
November 8, 2003, Bellevue, Washington --
Twenty-six steelhead advocates from more than 20
angling and conservation organizations met for a third
Steelhead Summit, working together once again on
behalf of the northwest's very special seagoing
rainbow trout.
Summit I and II, also hosted by the Wild Steelhead
Coalition, were conducted in November 2002 and May
2003, respectively. At the earlier events, key
steelhead issues were identified, and committees
formed to draft policy and action plans on each.
Examples are habitat, harvest, hydropower, hatchery
practices, research, education and public outreach.
Summit III continued these, and other, discussions,
and inter-organizational liaisons were strengthened.
A summit group steering committee was established, a
communications network was refined, and future goals
were outlined. Another summit meeting is tentatively
planned for spring of 2004.
Organizations represented at Summit III were: Wild
Steelhead Coalition,Trout Unlimited, Puget Sound
Anglers, American Rivers, Washington Wildlife
Federation, National Wildlife Federation, Federation
of Fly Fishers (and several FFF clubs), Washington
Trout, Northwest Women Flyfishers, Willapa Anglers,
Olympic Peninsula Guides Association, North Umpqua
Foundation, Steamboaters, Little Bear Creek Protective
Association, and the Recreational Fishing Alliance.
Other groups involved in the Summit's "umbrella"
organization are the Sierra Club, NW Sportfishing
Industry Alliance, Native Fish Society, Wild
Washington, Save Our Wild Salmon, and several British
Columbia fishing clubs.
Summit groups will continue to collaborate between
meetings, and are expected to make significant input
to WDFW and other agency policy processes, as
appropriate.
13) Please see #12
14) Please see #9. Also it's important to note that as I understand it, the push for the emplacement of the moritorium was to "stop the bleeding" while management policies are re-evaluated given the poor track record of MSY management across Washington State.
15) As previously mentioned, models that don't keep stocks managed on a harvest-only basis. Models that geared towards greater numbers of spawners and not necessarily the biggest potential harvest. Given the demise of so many runs in the state, isn't time that if we're going to goof, we do it for the good of the fish and not the stocking of the freezer or the egg bucket?
16) Because many of us believe that the way in which steelhead are currently managed is an endless downward spiral. Unfortunately, it often appears that we do so much damage to many of these stocks that once we take the harvest out of the picture, they still don't show significant increases in the short term. Why? State biologists seem to think that it's ocean conditions, but perhaps it's due more to fact that they're a fragile stock and once we mess things up just so much, the recovery process just isn't very fast to begin. perhaps it's the fact that we've wiped out those repeat girls that carry so many more eggs than the virgin girls, maybe it's the fact that people and nets selectively take the biggest fish out of the sytem on a regular basis. No one knows for sure right now, and no one may know for sure for as long as any of us are alive. We do know one thing though ... over 90% of the streams in the state have seen huge drops in the runs over the past few decades. Some saw quicker declines for a number of reasons ... it's time to help protect the few streams that haven't suffered total collapses yet before they do. Our belief is that C&R of wild stocks is the first step in a long process.
, but you must by now know the difference between CnR and WSR. If you didn't before, Smalma and Eddie just posted it for what must be the fortieth time someone has posted it in the last month.
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