WDFW news

September 21, 2004
Contact: Tim Waters, (360) 902-2262


State fish and wildlife director to hold
October open houses around state
Fish and wildlife issues will be the focus of four October public open houses conducted by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Director Jeff Koenings.

The events, all of which are scheduled to run from 7 to 9 p.m., are scheduled for:

Oct. 12, in the WDFW Southwest Washington regional headquarters, 2108 Grand Boulevard in Vancouver.
Oct. 18, in the WDFW Northern Puget Sound regional headquarters, 16018 Mill Creek Boulevard in Mill Creek.
Oct. 19, in the Aberdeen Parks Rotary Log Building, 14012 Sargent Boulevard in Aberdeen.
Oct. 27, in the Yakima Area Arboretum, 1401 Arboretum Drive, in Yakima.
At each event, Koenings will be joined by WDFW regional staff members who will answer questions and take public comment on fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing, habitat protection, fish and wildlife enforcement and related issues. No formal presentations are scheduled.

Similar open houses were held in early September in Spokane and Pateros.

"These events are intended to give citizens an extra opportunity to discuss fish and wildlife issues in depth and to become better acquainted with WDFW personnel," Koenings said.
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Want to discuss Gillnetting, Crab Seasons, Issues with specific fisheries of concern to you or your group? ( PSA, WSC, etc. )

This is the chance to talk openly with the director!

See you there!

I'll be at the Aberdeen meeting. How about some of the other regulars?

Spawnout, Dan S, Local, Drifter WA, fp?

I have some issues I would like to raise with Mr Koenings and his staff:

1) Maximum recreational/harvest opportunity on abundant hatchery stocks, including emergency openers for clip-fin only retention when an obvious surplus is returning to Grays Harbor streams. This year is a perfect example.

2) Mass-marking of all hatchery chinook released into Grays Harbor. This would allow a mark-selective chinook fishery for maximum recreational/harvest opportunity on abundant hatchery stocks while protecting Upper Chehalis wild stock (which supposedly has failed to meet escapement goals the past few years). That would have made last year's chinook closure completely unnecessary.

For all the naysayers out there, I ask but one question.
What are these hatchery fish being produced for if not maximum harvest opportunity?

If we as sportsmen pay big $$$ to artificially propagate these critters, we ought to be given the benefit of catching them. Otherwise, we should just quit raising them, or start raising something else with those $$$ that actually benefits the recreatinal angler.

If Mr Koenings cites lack of funding as the stumbling block for mass marking GH chinook, I'm sure local fishing clubs/volunteers could be counted upon to clip those fish. Another alternative for fin-clipping manpower would be to put some of those parastic inmates at Stafford Creek to better use.

Hey fNp,

They now have a machine to clip those fish .

I'll try to make the meeting.

I'll be there on the 27th, with some questions for the dude.