Rivrguy:

Thanks for the information on both the the Humptulips side and the Chehalis side...

Humptulips River. 9/1 - 9/30. Looks like 2 Chinook, can be kept...only place where 2 adult fish can be kept......I'm thinking BUSY PLACE

Thanks for the people that spend time at NOF meetings and this year, on line. The effort is what helps get the sport season we have.

Might have been, season is closed on Chehalis springers but that doesn't mean there are no fish in the river.

I can tell you that South Monty has a sea lion hanging around and there was a seal in the area of the pump houses.....there is a reason they are there !!!!!

Did you "call it in"??????

Ya right.
I've tried in the past and it's a huge waste of time and energy.
Anymore I figure enforcement is a service I pay for every year.
Obviously not my problem WDFW fails at it and planting fish both.

I play by the rules but those that don't are on their own.

After the final NOF Grays Harbor I put in a formal objection to the Director and Commission. I am told the staff's position is being reconsidered.

April 19, 2020

Director Susewind,

I am writing as a Grays Harbor Adviser to formally object to a blatant violation of the Grays Harbor Management Policy (GHMP) for the 2020 Recreational seasons. I am objecting to the removal of Chum salmon from the Chehalis River freshwater bag limit which violates the GHMP. I request that your office review the information I am providing and reinstate Chum harvest for the full 2020 recreational season mandated by the GHMP. The two WDFW models I utilized are attached. I want to be clear my objections do not challenge Quinault Indian Nation's (the Nation) right to harvest or sharing between the Nation and WDFW (state) fisheries as that responsibility resides solely with WDFW staff dictated by numerous court decisions.

The GHMP is a conservation based management policy with clearly defined harvest sharing guidelines. Additionally a provision called 3/4 requiring three net free days a week to assure sharing for inland fishers, both Chehalis Tribe and recreational, and provides a safety net for the fish if the preseason forecast is wrong. The conservation objectives are reinforced by a conservation directive that if escapement is not met 3 out of 5 years on a salmon species state fishers are limited to a 5% impact of the run size of that salmon species; this is known as 3/5. With conservation built in Mr. Herrings action removing Chum from the freshwater bag limit is a totally irresponsible action and clear violation of the GHMP for the reasons I will outline.

Guidelines for state Chum salmon fisheries are:
Guiding Principles
7) In a manner consistent with conservation objectives, fishing opportunities will be fairly distributed across fishing areas and reflect the diverse interests of WDFW- managed fishers.
Chum Salmon
Subject to the adaptive management provisions of this policy, the Department will manage chum salmon fisheries consistent with the Guiding Principles and the following objectives:

1) Fisheries will be managed with the intent of achieving escapement goals for wild and hatchery chum salmon. In no case, shall WDFW-managed fisheries result in an impact of more than 5% of the return when the natural-origin adult return exceeds the spawner objective by less than 10%.

2) No fisheries directed at Chum salmon shall occur unless the adult Coho salmon return exceeds spawner objectives, or if Coho salmon impacts remain after Coho and Chinook salmon fisheries.

The 2020 aggregate preseason forecast for Chum agreed to by the Nation and state is 30324 natural and 2325 hatchery origin adults resulting in 5825 Chum available respectively for the Nation and State fisheries. The modeled 2020 harvest is 5076 for the Nation, 2564 for State commercial gillnets and 215 for fresh water recreational. The recreational harvest numbers reflect that as of Nov 1 Chum was removed from the recreational bag limit. The model also shows that if all fishers fished to the modeled harvest that 3025 Chum salmon remain not harvested in the states share and 749 in the Nation's share. When I objected to the recreational Nov. 1 closure in the Adviser ZOOM meeting Chad Herring responded that the suggested closure came from an Adviser and he personally had "concerns." Why an Adviser would advocate for violating the GHMP I have no idea but frankly Director Susewind that is an issue between yourself and the Adviser as you appoint all of us. Mr. Herring on the other hand is the Grays Harbor Harvest Policy person who reports to Mr. Warren, both are very familiar with the GHMP, and both clearly know Mr. Herring's actions violate the recreational sharing for harvest dictated by the GHMP.

To further clarify this issue as it relates conservation and harvest I would like to share the following data from the preseason forecast model which contains the history of Chum harvest and escapement. The five year recreational average 2014 / 2018 (2019 is not included as it is only an estimate in the model) recreational Chehalis River Chum harvest is 464. For the same years the Nations average catch was 8074 and state commercial 2824. The model also shows in 2014 and 2017 Grays Harbor failed to make Chum escapement and the recreational harvest was 491 and 523 for those years. The Nations harvest 10,266 and 5831 with State commercial harvest 2625 and 1979 for the same two years.

Simply put Director Susewind if Mr. Herring has "concerns" I assume those concerns revolve around escapement as no other issues were discussed. The harvest numbers clearly show that in Grays Harbor Chum harvest the recreational freshwater fisher has the least impacts and a full season bag limit including Chum would pose about zero chance of reducing the Chum returns below the required escapement goal. I request that WDFW reinstate Chum to the freshwater bag limit for the 2020 seasons and comply with the GHMP.

Sincerely,

Dave Hamilton

CC: WDFW Commission
GH Advisers
JT Austin Governor Inslee Senior Policy Advisor, Natural Resources & Environment

Despite my irritation with the current state of affairs I do appreciate all you do.
Sincerely.

+1

Fish on...

Todd

+2 Thanks!

I appreciate that guys and thank you. When I objected to how the NT commercials were wrongly treated some folks were really ticked off but it was the right thing to do. The GHMP is what we all must stick to like glue, no exceptions. The sharing guidelines and conservation requirements in the GHMP dictate what all non tribal fisheries are not what I or anyone else feel is a better idea.

I have been asked to put out what the Rec Chehalis season below South Elma Bridge should be if the GHMP was followed correctly and I normally shy away from doing that but since I opened this can of worms here we go.

Aug. 1-Sept. 15 Min. size 12". Daily limit 6. Release adults.

Oct. 1-Dec. 31 Min. size 12". Daily limit 6. Up to 2 adults may be retained. Only one Coho adult may be retained. Release Chinook.

This means 6 fish including Coho Jacks but only one Coho adult be it hatchery or wild and up to two Chum but only two adult total. Release all Chinook period. The numbers and GHMP directives say this was the season that should have been presented by WDFW staff. Oh rough math says that in the states non tribal share over 1500 Chum above escapement would have remained unharvested. Maybe few more maybe few less but in the ball park I think.

This year the Grays Harbor fisheries plan resulted in the Chehalis river being limited to a one fish coho bag despite the non-tribal harvest being well under half the available fish and thousands of hatchery fish going unharvested. I tried to unravel how that happened and this is my opinion on why this occurred. First you must understand that there are about four sets of harvest rules. One set for the tribal fishers, a different set for the non-tribal fishers, another rule that says the Grays Harbor fish caught off shore in Washington waters are included, and a final rule that says the final harvest for each species must be shared 50/50. First an agreed to available harvest plan is generated, then each side tries to maximize their fishery within their rule set. Usually one species will reach the maximum limit and this will stop additional harvest of available other species. When the final plans are compared there is a requirement that each side has a 50/50 split for each species.

This year the QIN harvest plan fished right up to the maximum for chum which stopped them from additional fishing. As a result they caught only 47% of the available coho and 85% of the available Chinook (available under their rules). The non-tribal plan had not reached any limit but did harvest more coho than the QIN. This invoked the 50/50 harvest rule and limited the non-tribal coho harvest to be equal to the limited QIN harvest. That is the reason the bag limit on the Chehalis got cut to one fish with thousands of unharvested hatchery fish available. The 50/50 rule does not seem to apply in reverse as in the case of the non-tribal inability to harvest chum.

I think you captured it, kinda, as to Coho but the sharing impacts are what resulted in the one bag limit and 2 week shut down window. The Nation gets 50% of Grays Harbor Coho ( it is the aggregate of Chehalis and Hump ) and the Chehalis Tribe and ocean catch count into the states side. The two bag limit from Sept 16 to Dec 1 is regarded as a full Rec season bay or inriver. Species are removed from the bag limit by returns limiting a species availability, sharing, or GHMP on the states side. Chum after the modeled harvest had 3020 left in the states side. That means the two fish bag should have stayed with zero Chinook retention and only one Coho in the bag. After all that 3294 Natural Coho and 21814 hatchery adults left unharvested. The hatchery number means almost nothing as the fish are managed to the wild escapement.

The main words here are 50% entering WA ST waters and aggregate Hump / Chehalis. PFMC and the nation manage to the Grays Harbor aggregate. So when you do that the Grays Harbor natural Coho return is 34,146 and the escapement goal is 35,400. It is the Hump Coho that pull the total down as the natural will be 4549 under Grays Harbor aggregate escapement.

Hey guys thought I would let you all know that Gillie is off the ventilator and moved to rehab. For those who do not know Gillie is a guide from the East Grays Harbor area who got the virus. Scared the hell out of us as he was on the vent for a substantial amount of time but again he looks to have beat the thing. For us that know Gillie lets keep him in our thoughts until he is free of that damn bug!

Here is something interesting. In the state fish biz JT has been the mover and shaker seldom seen. So grain of salt here as nothing from the Guv yet that I know of.


Forwarded:

There's been a lot of speculation flying around this week about the role of J.T. Austin, Senior Policy Advisor, Natural Resources at this point in NOF season setting this year.  In the past, she has been very active and major player behind the scenes.  Word is that role is going to be passed forward or shared in some fashion with Jon Snyder.  Not certain what's going on for sure, but here's what I've learned about Mr. Snyder who until now I didn't know existed.

Mr. Snyder moved into the Gov office in 2016 as Sr. Policy Advisor, Outdoor Recreation & Economic Development.  Here's his education and career history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Snyder

Here's his list of issues in his current job title and position that he's held for 4 years in the Governor's Office.  At least he's familiar with the term "Recreational".





JON SNYDER – SR. POLICY ADVISOR, OUTDOOR RECREATION & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 360.902.0488 JON.SNYDER@GOV.WA.GOV

AGENCIES Commerce, Department of (Recreation) Columbia River Gorge Commission Fish and Wildlife, Department of (Recreation, Fishing & Hunting ) Natural Resources, Department of (Recreation) Recreation and Conservation Office (Recreation) State Parks and Recreation Commission Transportation, Department of (Bike, Ped) Traffic Safety Commission (Bike, Ped) ISSUES Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Boating Discover Pass No Child Left Inside grants Outdoor Environmental Education Public Land and Conservation Land Access Recreation Benefits Recreation Economy Recreation and Recreation Planning Recreation Workforce Planning Sports and Athletics Sustainable Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-related Recreation and Commercial Experiences Outdoor Tourism Veteran’s Conservation Corp Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program Grants Watchable Wildlife

Interesting? Was unable to find any details on their backgrounds/influences etc. Anybody know more about these people that advise the Gov. on outdoor recreational issues?

The tribes.

Seriously. How come there is so little public information available on J.T. Austin? Being a "Senior Policy Advisor", you would think a whole profile would exist for the public to view? Who is she and where did she come from? Other than having a law degree it's difficult to find out much. How do you get to be a Gov. policy advisor anyway?

JT is simply a member of the Governor's staff. Any Governor hires staff to track and advise on issues and most staffers are seldom seen. As to qualifications, that is for the Governor to speak to as staff position requirements are whatever the Governor decides they are.

JT Austin? Here's what Susewind says about her and her influence and meddling in the Fisheries! From his sworn deposition!

A= Susewind's answers to the attorney.

·6· ·Q· Okay.· Does she provide any input?
·7· ·A· She's the Governor's Office.· Of course she does. (*O'l Susewind got the message loud and clear)
·8· ·Q· I'm trying to get to what it is that she provides input on.
·9· ·A· It's relationships, understanding tribal -- she's his
10· · · expert at tribal culture, tribal relationships.· I believe
11· · · we got a number of staff that are as well, but it's always
12· · · good to have an extra set of eyes there.
13· ·Q· Um-hmm.
14· ·A· Also the tribes put a lot of faith in her, and if she and I
15· · · say the same thing, they're going to believe her before
16· · · they believe me.

Pretty evident from this and other first hand information that the Governor uses JT Austin to TELL WDFW how to manage the fisheries

Is she a tribal member somewhere? Or has relatives or family members that are tribal? Seems like a huge conflict of interest, if so needs to be publicized for public scrutiny.

R&G yours, mine, or any other citizen's ethnicity mean zero when in the workplace. To even insinuate if a person has tribal heritage they are unfit to work for the governor is so damn far past offensive that it is hard to fathom!

Rivrguy, I respect you, your opinions and your efforts. I also have respect and even admiration for you and numerous other posters on this site.That being said I do not necessarily agree with all of your and their opinions.

Now the the first part of your post that is highlighted in Yellow I disagree with. Imagine how some people might react if a white person was appointed by the Governor to oversee a black cultural heritage program. Dare I say it would not be enthusiastically accepted. But in reality it's not really a matter of ethnicity at all it is a matter of affiliations and how wealth is shared and perceptions of that.

As for the part in blue I do not totally disagree with (even though you did go over the top a bit), however R&G did no such thing he only questioned in what position a person with tribal associations it would be advisable for them to serve. I highly doubt that any tribal member or affiliate regardless of their ethnicity would want me advising the Governor on Tribal relations and it would not be because of my ethnicity it would be because they would fear that I, a person with differant affiliations and views might cause a shift in power, and they would be right as I would surely try to do so.