"Defund WDFW" is going to make fishing better how?

Or, look at the flip side; how does funding WDFW make our fishing experience better? I should add that this is specific to anadromous fisheries. WDFW actually does sorta' OK with raising and stocking hatchery resident trout in lakes since the treaty tribes haven't staked any claim to those fish - yet. The hatchery trout stocking program is the one department budget line item that isn't pissing money into a black hole, unlike the preponderance of funds spent raising hatchery salmon that are primarily caught in BC, AK, and WA commercial treaty and non-treaty fisheries. By this I refer to the commercial fishing interests representing less than 2% of the WA population, while the 98% that pays the taxes and buys the licenses that keeps WDFW afloat gets very little from their investment. And now, with treaty tribes directing the Department to close the Stillaguamish R all summer to trout fishing under the guise of "Chinook conservation," but in reality opens the widespread Chinook poaching season when there are no eyes on the river, and closing rivers to recreational angling on days that treaty tribes fish to avoid gear conflicts that the people should be left to work out on their own, and the Skokomish R closure even though the State has a federal court decision describing the boundary of the reservation - a WDFW that works for anglers would leave the river open while the Tribe pursues a further legal remedy if they wish, or close George Adams hatchery if the Tribe won't back off, and on and on. These unnecessary reductions in recreational fishing opportunity are what WDFW does with the millions of dollars we taxpayers and license buyers provide them. We get the fishing that the treaty tribes of PS decide we can have. How would it be better if WDFW were defunded?

The fishing in WA that I rely on exists pretty much outside the efforts of WDFW. And my non-resident fishing licenses for OR, MT, ID, and BC yield greater benefits per dollar spent than my resident WA license does by a country mile. Tell me again why we should fund WDFW . . .

here is the email i got over 2 weeks late..

read this horsesh!t...

Hi Nate,



Your email was forwarded on to me from the regional team down in Montesano. Thanks for contacting WDFW about the salmon seasons in the Puyallup and Carbon River, and your interest in those fisheries. Unfortunately the forecast this year for wild coho in the Puyallup Drainage is one of the lowest forecasts in the last decade, with less than 2,000 adults forecasted to return to the entire Puyallup River. This is primarily due to extensive flooding that occurred early in the 2020 winter and affected the 2019 brood year. Those juveniles wouldn’t have emerged from the gravel when that flooding occurred, likely resulting in high mortalities to juvenile coho from that brood year. There are smolt traps which are used to estimate abundances of juvenile salmonids emigrating out of the Puyallup and White Rivers, and the estimates from the 2019 age class are much lower than average indicating that the scour from flooding resulted in significant mortalities of juvenile salmonids. Juveniles from the 2019 age class are the 2022 3 year old adults returning this fall.



Due to the low forecast for returning adults, the Carbon and Puyallup fisheries were shut down early to protect wild coho in the later fall months when adults are migrating to spawning habitat in the upper portions of the watershed. The intent was to find a balance between offering recreational opportunity while also trying to protect the wild population in a year of low predicted abundance. Based on the data collected in creel surveys on the Puyallup and Carbon River the majority of hatchery that are harvested are caught in August and September. Closing fisheries at the end of September provides anglers solid opportunity for hatchery Chinook and coho and then provides some protection for wild coho in the later fall months.



The Carbon and upper Puyallup are closed due to negotiations with tribal co-managers to reach agreement on a Regional Management Plan (RMP) for Chinook that secures ESA coverage for our Chinook fisheries for a 10 year period. It was a policy level decision to close during those days to reduce impacts on wild Chinook in the Puyallup Basin in our collective fisheries in order to meet the management objectives that are part of the RMP. The wild population of fall Chinook in the Puyallup has continued to decline over the last decade with an even sharper decline observed since 2019. Failing to reach agreement on the RMP would put coverage for all of our Chinook fisheries in Puget Sound in jeopardy.



Thanks again for your interest and passion in the Puyallup and Carbon River salmon fisheries and let me know if you have further questions. I hope that we can return to a normal season that extends through the fall next year.




Gabe Madel

Fisheries Biologist

South Puget Sound

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife




soooooo, they start off with the flooding that occured, that wasnt that bad actually, nothing of the likes of the 2009 flood, not even remotely close...

alright, so floods killed off the smolt possibly..

then they go right into "the Puyallup and Carbon are closed" on the agreement with the tribes, for the 10 year plan (2027 as said on the website), to protect the Chinook that has been declining for over a decade...

right to the last sentence, of "I hope that we can return to a normal season that extends through the fall next year."

next year is 2023, not 2027, if you have a 10 year agreement to shut the river down early until 2027 to protect Chinook, how do you open it up to normal seasons next year?

100 percent the nets will be in the water all October, November and December, and probably more days than normal because they will adjust their season for surplus fish since we arent fishing for them... just like the Quinaults did a while ago when the Hoh got shut down early and they took over 80 percent of harvestable wild steelhead because the river was shut down to us...

fvck the WDFW, and the tribes... resource raping bastards...

oh well looky here...

seems the WDFW sent Gabe out with the NFS (Native Fish Society, we all know what those clowns are about), out to do studies on fisheries...

quick question, why is an Oregon based anti hatchery anti anything but bug tossers organization doing research studies on Puget Sound fisheries...

Patagonia also funded part of it...

like i said on a friends post on Facebook, somethings about to happen that no one imagined.. you are about to be punched in the gut in the worse way possible...

i guess we can always go troll for Pikeminnow...

https://nativefishsociety.org/news-media/coastal-cutthroat-curious

Since these "gear conflicts" involve tribal members pulling guns on the recreational fishers. Other than getting into a mexican standoff or shooting back, how do you suggest people work out "gear conflicts" on their own?

If tribal members are pulling guns then deal with that. Rewarding them seems a bit of a problem doesn't it. I have heard of other examples of where tribal members engaged in illegal activity and as a result the state gave them all kinds of concessions to promise not to do it any more, despite the actions being against the current tribal regulations and agreements.

Back to the Chehalis…

South Monte boat launch is now open to the public.

Both ramps are fully functional but the parking area is significantly reduced. No attempt was made to stabilize the raw cut Bank on the north side of the river. “No parking” boulders have been set well back quite a ways from the raw undercut edge of the high bank.

That is good to hear Doc! Long term no idea either but we had a stinker of a spring and it looks to be a good summer and fall to fish or whatever. Yup good news.

7/18/2022

South Monty boat ramp is functional BUT parking while NOT a problem now will be a major problem in late September, all of October, and some of November.

State needs to remove the "blocking concrete barriers" and allow fisherpersons to park West of the bridge and to park under the bridge. These areas were "normal" parking since 1968, when I moved here and probably many years before that.

Road going in, needs to be better maintained....think Montesano City is has that responsibility, "pot holes need filling, and grass and blackberries need to be killed or cut way back.....tough to get vehicles coming and going.

South Monty to Fuller Bridge will be a challenge. Trees, logs, changing gravel bars could be hard on boater persons.....high tide should be limited problems BUT low tides could be tough on boat bottoms, jet pumps and prop's.

As to defunding WDFW I think there are couple things to do but they would be highly political.

The first is have the Leg create a new FW fishing license. Applies ONLY to non-salmon (including steelhead) in FW. The kicker is that funds from the license could only be used for hatchery production,stocking , and management of the species. Could not be used for habitat (that is a state wide duty fundable by all taxpayers, administrative oversight, and enforcement. May have missed something, but Salmo can add it.

Although much more risky I think we should elect the Commission. Four from Eastside. Four from Westside. They would be elected by east or west voters. Chair elected statewide. A requirement of qualifying for election, perhaps except Chair, is that they have held WDFW-issued annual licenses in five of the past 10 years and must hold one annually when in office. That would get the Gubbernor on Leg out of the equation.

And its too late for much resistance from the n/t fishing community(s) on this end game, so get used to it. The current state politic is way invested and trained up to the nut on redistribution, equity, and justice, and will not turn back. All future PS fishing will be at the discretion of the tribal powers to be.

And

Your Pikeminow trolling opportunity along with Walleye chasing may not be allowed whenever the salmon are running...

does anyone know when the Q's net schedule will be posted?

Not sure if I missed something, but what’s the article from 2017 on Searun Cutthroat have to do with tribes limiting PS sportfishing? I’m in agreement they have the state by the balls but just trying to connect this to cutthroat studies.

The Nation usually releases their dates when it pleases them. Below is the agreed to season utilized for the 2022 harvest model. They start a week at noon Sunday.

8/28 - 9/3 36
9/4 - 9/10 37
9/11 - 9/17 38
9/18 - 9/24 39
9/25 - 10/1 40
10/2 - 10/8 41
10/9 - 10/15 42 week
10/16 10/22 43
10/23 10/29 44
10/30 11/5 45
11/6 - 11/12 46
11/13 11/19 47
11/20 -------- 48-53

a WDFW biologist is actively working with an anti hatchery organization from Oregon...

he is also part of a group called The Nature Conservancy, and some of the individuals seem pretty radical...

he also lied to me 3 times in 1 email..

that should scare the hell out of you..

07/21/2022

QIN does have a web site, this is what I use for current information..

This will show 2021 netting schedules but it will be updated as we get closer to September/October/November fisheries

http://quinaultindiannation.com/Fishing%20Regs/chehalis%20commercial.pdf


Try it, then bookmark it so you'll have it!!!!

I was fishing in the skoke a few years before the closure and the natives dragged their net downstream and caught me in it! They started telling me they own the river and yelled a bunch of racist things at me. They need to hit the bong more and learn to chill out bro!

LOL.....

Couple of things folks. First this thread is about the Chehalis or Grays Harbor if you will, and its tribs and since Doc started it everyone has pretty much respected that. Second it is not about Puget Sound and the eternal tribal conflicts that seem to reside there or any other thing hanging around. Here the QIN and recs have managed to get along mostly and BS about someone's race or ethnicity is 100% pure grade A BS.

Finally this BB is part of Bob's business and one should respect that and conduct yourselves accordingly. If you lack the manners to do that start a thread to rant about whatever is bugging your butt but don't bring it to this thread.

I heard the skokes are trying to net on the satsop and the chehalis so it is related. If they are allowed to then it will mean fewer fish for us. I am not saying anything racist either I am just telling you about my experience so it isnt BS Rivrguy. But if you are one of these woke people bro then everything is always about race even if it is not. Just chill and we can keep it on topic. But anyways there are gear conflicts between the recs and the tribes and closing fishing for the recs is not a good solution.