I knew deep down that this was a scenario all too likely to happen given the insanely aggressive netting schedule that has been going on since October. First they slaughtered the system's late native coho in December without account, now it's the steelhead.



Our present "co-management" arrangement is like a financially dysfunctional marriage where the couple shares a joint checking account without either one knowing how much is being spent. One spouse is hell bent on spending with no accountability, writing checks like there's no tomorrow, figuring the account is a fountain of unending wealth. The other spouse is completely in the dark until the statement comes in that the account is overdrawn..... AGAIN!

We need to have the feds step in to stop this madness. The state has proven its ineptitude and impotence in dealing with the situation TIME AND TIME AGAIN! Enough is enough!

Like I said before, no successful Fortune 500 company operates with two co-CEO's at the helm. It's time the buck stops at one final authority to ensure that these shenanigans do not lead to planned extinction of our wild salmon and steelhead stocks!

I agee and how do we make happen ?????

The nets are still there. I even seen a new one on the downstream side of Lakeside.

Well now, what a surprise! We don't even get the courtesy of a reach around! (again)
I just don't understand how these people can keep raping the rivers and not give a sheat?
If boycotting a license purchase is what it takes, then so be it.
Don't any of the tribe members sport fish for enjoyment and have hopes of letting their children do the same?
How can a reasonable person, who's suppose to be soooooo connected to nature, continue to do the damage to the fish runs?
I would really like an explanation from at least one of them, what they plan to do when there are no fish left to manage.
This is a very sad day for me and as is for everyone else on this board.
Where will it end?
Someone in our state government needs to pull their pants up and put a stop to this insanity.
sad, sad, sad.

lets not get upset yet, its still not posted on the WDFW page, and could be a hoax, but either way the netting on the chehellis has to stop, atleast slow down a bunch, we need to band together and figure out some solutions.

If this does come out to be true, then sportsmen need to band together and launch a class action lawsuit against the state and the tribes responsible. This, along with an onslaught of negative media might be the only way to bring about change.

BB

I've been trying to get this confirmed all day, and so far I've had two secondary sources tell me two exact opposite...one says it's to close, one says it's not.

The direct sources that I'm waiting to hear from are in meetings today, so hopefully they will get ahold of me before they go home.

Stay tuned...

Fish on...

Todd

With one distinction. The "spouse" you speak of is generally the female, yet we're the ones getting screwed!

We all need to take a deep breath!

Better?

OK this is no hoax! There was a meeting called by the commission last night where this entire tribal overharvest scenario was discussed. The e-mail posted above about closing on Feb 28 was very real.... BUT...

There were more meetings this morning, and the number massagers, the damage-control patrol and the spin doctors were all busy crafting their way out of this mess. The probable outcome is that a press release will state that although there is a conservation concern, the fishery will continue as usual thru the end of March, but our "stewards" will be monitoring the situation more closely than has ever been done in the past.

so will the native americans still net even though they have gone over there limit.. if so i would rather they close the whole system down for fishing and netting..


bottom line
if they went over they should be DONE and not just cut down a day a week.

there should be no nets at all... we will get the hosed again on this one.. also this might be the only way the state can get the nets out of the chehalis..

This does not surprise me. Anyone looking at net schedule could see it coming. It is another reason for the Federal government to step in and end Co-management. Make WDFW responsible for not taking steps to prevent this. In my opinion not buying a license would give the WDFW more reason to shut down more hatcheries. Pressure needs to be placed on our government to change the Bolt Decision. As soon as I see more facts I will be sending emails to my Representative , Federal and local. The abuse by Indians has got to stop.

I see a number of responses about not buying a new fishing license.
How about not utilizing TRIBAL business interests: quinault guided fishery, tribal casinos, smokeshops, leave Neah Bay area businesses a desert this halibut/salmon season etc, etc.
Inevitably money talks, as evidenced by the tribal overfishing. First the Makahs now the Quinaults. And its all about $$$ in their pockets.
Its time to let the sportfishing $$$$ start to do some talking. Us sportsfishermen make many sacrifices, lets sacrifice the sport fishing seasons where sports $$$ directly or indirectly support tribal communities.
Its time for the sportsfishermen to grow some balls and take action, not whine & complain!

Fargin' weasels at WDFW KNEW someone's ass was going to be in a wringer, so they cooked the numbers. Call me cynical, but how can you not be after this creeeaaaap?

And the next time I see a Quinault fish pic posted here I'm not going to know whether to sh!t or wind my watch.

Yeah, their fishing is great.........because they're netting the p!ss out of the rivers WE can fish. Oh my aching ass...............

I agree with Dan S.

I have wondered for years why so many seem to get so off posting pictures of their dead Quinault fish then turn around and complain about the nets the Quinaults are choking all our rivers with.

This has been occuring for years....it is nothing new......and anyone who gives a dime to that tribe should be ashamed! But then again, we all need our hero shots..... :rolleyes:

I disagree. The "Quinault fish" you see posted on this board would show up today whether the river was tribally managed or not, and the tribe recieves enough government subsidies to live on whether we patronize them with sportsman dollars or not.

It's time for action not words...

how far is it from Olympia to Amanda Park?

Sol-
The point I was trying to make was that I find it a little hypocrtical that so many fish with the Tribe on the Quinault every year.

Why would you support a group that has shown no mercy, no respect for any of the rivers except for the one on their Reservation?

I've not fished the lower Quinault before, but thats not to say I won't in the future. The tribal guides that finacially benifit from our patronage had no more to do with the court's desision that granted their tribe the rights they have today than I had over our governments desision to invade Irag. Don't mix political idiology with discrimination.

Here's a post I put on a different BB:

***********
So here's what I've heard so far...this is part rumor, part fact, and part intuition...mainly fact, and putting it together intuitively in this order:

1. The Quinaults have overfished (fact)...considerably...maybe as many as 3700 wild fish harvested (credible rumor).

2. The Chehalis and tribs were to be closed(fact)...news release to that effect was drafted(fact). Some leaked out before general release (fact)(see the one Rockfish posted above...I got that one this morning, too).

3. Department staff met with the Commission last night (fact), didn't want the political backlash of seeing yet another tribal fishery overharvest and lead to the closure of the sport fishery due to escapement now projected to be below escapment goal (rumor).

4. News release was pulled (after some leaked out), and they have been meeting all day to "massage" the numbers into another "not a big deal" so that they can distract us by keeping the rivers open (mix of fact and intuition).

5. They plan on a "new" news release tomorrow(fact)...one that will say that there was no overfishing, that the season went just as planned, and that the sportfishery will continue(fact)...this won't be exactly truthful, as those rivers are now not going to make escapement, but they are going to keep them open anyway(rumor and intuition...hope to confirm or not tomorrow).

6. Around lunchtime tomorrow we will see the second news release(fact).

I can't believe the last few months with WDFW...do they really think that people can't put this stuff together? Do they really think that as long as they keep the sport season open (even if it is in direct violation of the WSP, due to yet another allowed overfishing by the tribes?) that sportfishermen won't notice, or won't wonder why there are no fish, or be concerned about the runs now being underescaped AND IT'S STILL OPEN?

More tomorrow, as the information continues to develop.

Fish on...

Todd