Went to Rays last night and they continue to have wild steelhead from the Queets as their special. I would encourage a letter or phone call.

I'll try to get a note off to them tomorrow, hope many do the same!

you know, having worked at a restaurant, I wonder how much of this is the restaurant actually serving wild steelhead, and how much is them lying and calling hatchery steelhead 'wild' steelhead to dress up a menu. Unless of course you can't serve either, in which case I'm totally wrong. Hopefully either way they aren't wild fish.

I definitely think that the majority of restaraunts and stores that are selling "wild" steelhead or salmon are actually selling hatchery fish....if you're outside the fishing community anything not raised in a pen and actually grows naturally is "wild". I'm sure plenty of native fish still make it to the plate courtesy of the OP tribes though.....

I do not think a gillnet can tell the diffrence between a hatchery or wild fish.

so did you eat there anyway...

Annual mid winter chit.Good luck,
SZ

"Wild" means "not farmed" in the vast majority of commercial contexts, and to the public. IMO, "Native" is the word to use when talking to vendors like Rays about your concerns -- because they are pre-programmed with what "Wild" means to them.

"Wild" effectively means both "hatchery" and "native" because:

1. Tribal steelhead fishers do not practice selective harvest and
2. Buyers/retailers do not look for a missing fin......nor do they want to

I don't post often, but as a former president of the Ballard Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Ray's boathouse Restaurant supported sportsmen by allowing us to raise in the net pen next to the restaurant, blackmouth and coho until the state stopped the blackmouth program. Eventually we ran out of younger volunteers and the coho releases ended around 2002. Again Ray's maintained the dock and ramp for the net pen. Many anglers reaped the rewards in the central sound because of Ray's support!

Notime2

And they should be thanked for such ... but they also need to understand the impacts of commercial harvest of these fish.

Yes, If they so readily lent a hand the past, then they should be receptive to our current concerns.

And there was probably a regular contact ... so if still there, might be the one to approach?

They have a Facebook page as well.

Ray's on Facebook

Cut-n-paste if it helps you get an email out:

To Ray's:
I’m writing to discuss your sale of steelhead on the menu. At this time of year, both hatchery (origin) and native wild steelhead swim into the rivers to spawn. Many of these wild runs are struggling for survival, and several are listed as “Endangered” on wildlife tracking lists. The nets that harvest these fish do not discriminate on which fish they catch, and the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife does a horribe job of requiring harvest methods that protect these wild runs of fish. By participating in the market, Rays is promoting distruction of a resource that identifies Washington, and is valuable to the state's recreational economy as well.
To me, Ray’s means GREAT seafood, but please adjust your menu to support more viable, responsible fisheries. Please take steelhead off the menu.
Thanks for considering this suggestion, and helping Washington support Ray’s.

Wow, fast response back...less than 2 minutes so Ray's definitely had this ready to go:

From Rays:
"Thank you for your concern regarding the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are currently offering as a special in our restaurant. We agree 100% with your position that serving unsustainable, endangered and threatened fish is damaging to the future of wild fish and our environment. We actively support organizations, such as Long Live the Kings and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, who work toward preserving our natural resources.

The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are serving has been sustainably caught by the Quileute Tribe from the Quileute River and purchased through Key City Fish. The Steelhead is a combination of both hatchery and wild stock that has spawned naturally. Since November 1, 2010, we have served about 134 fish. Many Steelhead populations are indeed endangered or threatened and should absolutely be completely avoided, such as those on the California Coast, Oregon Coast, Snake River, and Puget Sound. However, the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead population is healthy, robust and absolutely not threatened. For confirmation of this please visit NOAA’s website at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/Steelhead/.

The Quileute Tribe is closely partnered with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to aggressively manage this fishery. The state and tribe worked together to produce the Salmon Stock Inventory (SaSI) in 1992. The SaSI is a critical document for wild fish recovery and definitively identifies the status of each wild stock in categories ranging from extinct to healthy. The state and tribe actively works with citizens to catalogue details about habitat and map fish stock distributions. I can assure you that everyone involved, from tribe to state to restaurant, has a vested interest in the preservation of this fish.

There is considerable conflict between sport and commercial fishermen regarding the regulation of steelhead fishing and we completely understand the frustrations of both sides. We want to stress, though, that the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead we have served was sustainably and legally caught according to the regulations set forth by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and is not endangered or threatened according to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

Ray’s Boathouse would absolutely never serve endangered or threatened fish. Thank you for your feedback. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Best,



Peter Birk, Executive Chef | Ray’s Boathouse, Café & Catering

6049 Seaview Avenue NW | Seattle, WA 98107

206.789.3770 | www.rays.com | rays@rays.com

This is what I received a couple of minutes ago from the executive chef at Ray's Boat House:


Thank you for your concern regarding the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are currently offering as a special in our restaurant. We agree 100% with your position that serving unsustainable, endangered and threatened fish is damaging to the future of wild fish and our environment. We actively support organizations, such as Long Live the Kings and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, who work toward preserving our natural resources.

The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are serving has been sustainably caught by the Quileute Tribe from the Quileute River and purchased through Key City Fish. The Steelhead is a combination of both hatchery and wild stock that has spawned naturally. Since November 1, 2010, we have served about 134 fish. Many Steelhead populations are indeed endangered or threatened and should absolutely be completely avoided, such as those on the California Coast, Oregon Coast, Snake River, and Puget Sound. However, the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead population is healthy, robust and absolutely not threatened. For confirmation of this please visit NOAA’s website at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/Steelhead/.

The Quileute Tribe is closely partnered with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to aggressively manage this fishery. The state and tribe worked together to produce the Salmon Stock Inventory (SaSI) in 1992. The SaSI is a critical document for wild fish recovery and definitively identifies the status of each wild stock in categories ranging from extinct to healthy. The state and tribe actively works with citizens to catalogue details about habitat and map fish stock distributions. I can assure you that everyone involved, from tribe to state to restaurant, has a vested interest in the preservation of this fish.

There is considerable conflict between sport and commercial fishermen regarding the regulation of steelhead fishing and we completely understand the frustrations of both sides. We want to stress, though, that the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead we have served was sustainably and legally caught according to the regulations set forth by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and is not endangered or threatened according to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

Ray’s Boathouse would absolutely never serve endangered or threatened fish. Thank you for your feedback. Please let me know if you have any further questions.


Best,

Peter Birk, Executive Chef | Ray’s Boathouse, Café & Catering

6049 Seaview Avenue NW | Seattle, WA 98107

206.789.3770 | www.rays.com | rays@rays.com

Imagine that, a form letter written by a tribal pitch man. Dont hang all your hopes on the Sasi. Many of those numbers havent been updated in nearly a decade.

So what does it take to raise the escapement level and get the fish listed?

Anybody have a link to more current data to respond to them? Seems like an email to Ray's would be more affective if I had differing data to put in it.

Well the Queets is different than the Quileute... I'm not an expert, but we collectively look dumb when we get our rivers wrong.