I see there isn't a schedule yet up on wdfw site for 2013 on the Chehalis for the cowboys.. but theres one for the willipa...

are they looking at it for change in the days???

http://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/development.html#13-01-064

Link is to CR 102 supplemental and that is all officially acknowledged so it is wait to see what Mr. Anderson tries next. After the Willapa bit of BS we all have quit guessing.

To follow up a little here is the link to WDF&W Commission meeting August 2nd. In the Public Input section about three minutes in you get the GH Gillnetters bitching their collective asses off. My favorite bit is the one that objects to the harvest model understating the sports catch and omitting it does the same for the gillnetters and OVERSTATE the inriver sport catch.

After the that you just have listen to Mr. Anderson in the Directors report. Now the first few minutes is Joe Storh doing budget stuff then come Phil. First up Grays Harbor then Willapa. Typical Phil to the Commission or " lets baffle them with BS"

The Link to Audio: http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings/2013/08/audio_aug0313.html

Link to Video: Now if you want to watch it on your computer here is the link http://www.tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwsearch&year=2013&contentCode=A and you want the second WDF&W video with Public Input and the Directors Report

Edit: They added video since I posted but you want the one that starts a 8:00 AM and Mr. Anderson starts at minute 54.

Thought I would take a minute to put up some info from the Willapa Management Plan regarding Chinook harvest as the sports / commercial / conservationist camps do the annual " kick the crap out of each other two step " in both the FTC & Willapa threads. So below is a statement in the plan by WDF&W regarding Willapa Chinook harvest and the numbers are similar for Grays Harbor.

Anyone see anything wrong with the numbers? Millions and millions of dollars spent both private and your taxes in the coastal regions ( Willapa & Grays Harbor ), land restrictions, jobs lost, growth management, water quality improvements all of these things for what? 68% of the Chinook returning are harvested before they even get to coastal waters. Add the Washington marine fisheries ( charter and troll ) and what you have is the local communities sport and commercial interest ripping into each other over the remaining 29%. The big loser? The fish! Conservation is always pushed to the side as the agency attempts to maintain harvest under extreme pressure from a wide variety of interest. You see the fish does not vote, cannot hire an attorney, does not contribute to the politicians campaigns that are elected to write our laws. It is frequently said " the system is broke " and offhand I would say the fish and local communities pretty much agree.


FISHERIES MANAGEMENT
Fundamental to fisheries management in Washington is involvement in the PFMC and North of Falcon processes. The annual series of PFMC and North of Falcon meetings is the foundation for the development of all fishing in Washington including the Pacific Ocean, Columbia River, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, inland rivers, and coastal harbors and rivers. There are, however, more northern fisheries occurring in the coastal waters of Canada and Alaska, which substantively impact Chinook and coho originating from Willapa Bay. Agreements for these fisheries are governed through the Pacific Salmon Treaty where overall harvest limits on Washington stocks are negotiated. These fisheries in Canada and Alaska have historically accounted for 67% of total Willapa Bay Chinook harvested (figure 2). When coupled with terminal harvest rates that exceeded 70%, the overall harvest or total exploitation rate of Willapa Bay origin Chinook was near 90%.


Canada 44%
Alaska 23%
Willapa Bay Commercial 23%
Washington Marine 1-4 6%
Willapa Bay Recreational 3%
Oregon 1%

Well folks the dance started August 15, 2013 on the Willapa legal action challenging the Commercial Gillnet Season. Here is the link http://fishingthechehalis.net/nof-process to the page on FTC that has a write up by Tim Hamilton, one of the petitioners. In reading Tim's write up you will notice the Willapa Bay Gillnetters Association filed a motion to enjoin the asking the presiding judge to allow the association lawyers to team up with WDFW to represent the interests of its members that fish the Willapa during the season.

Sorry about not posting sooner but everyone has been a little maxed out getting the legal issues corralled and then getting everything to the website for you.

When looking through the various papers filed in superior court, it appears that a great deal of persistence and research went into this.

It will be interesting to see what happens next Friday and best of luck in the results.

On the PM side. No today is not a full blown hearing for a Temporary Restraining Order ( TRO ) but rather we file documents responding to the state's response to our filing the lawsuit. I think I just confused myself but I will do my best to get things out as soon as possible.

I just received notice that the judge has delayed the hearing on the Willapa Commercial Gillnet Fishery legal challenge until next week. WDF&W and Willapa Bay Gillnetters Association (WBGA) have worked cooperatively to flood the court with motions and briefs and it didn't allow the judge time for review. I will update everyone as soon as possible with the court's new schedule.

hey Dave anything new on the Chehalis net schedule ??

Not that I know of for either the QIN / Chehalis Tribal or NT Nets. Now the proposed CR 102 Supplemental for NT Nets is on the WDF&W website http://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/development.html#13-01-064 but it sets as the Commission has not voted on it. Draw your own conclusions on that one as after Mr. Phil's shameless antics in Willapa I refuse to guess anymore!

Just got an oral report that this morning Thurston County Judge Wickham, who is hearing the Willapa challenge filed by Tim, Art, & Ron just threw out the gillnetters case filed earlier this year objecting to changes in the 2013 gillnet season in the Columbia. In that case, the CCA enjoined to argue along with WDFW to defend the changes made to the gill net fishery in the Columbia designed to prevent damage to the fishruns. Same judge as our case in the Willapa, just that WDFW is arguing on opposite side and "on the same team" with the gillnetters in the Willapa case. As they say....."The plot thickens...... More to come.

When's the hump netting schedule going to be posted, trying to get my vacations scheduled at work?

I don't think they can come to an agreement with the quins... that's the last I heard.. so god only knows.

Probably not when the director himself called their mortality rate "arbitrary."

Correct nothing on the QIN seasons so far other than a couple of tribal friends who simply say " big f'in disagreement "

That is disappointing that the court cancelled the hearing on Friday regarding the temporary restraining order. Unfortunately, the commercial fishing season is moving on as scheduled.

CCA intervened in the CR lawsuit- not enjoined. Enjoin has a very different legal meaning. Just saying…

Oh OK LL just put forth what I was given on the Columbia. As to Willapa that has been pretty much the agencies strategy from the git go. From the CR process to the courts just drag it out so you can not get at the season. Nothing new and most certainly not unexpected.

Little edit: Got back to my source and a oh oh moment and you hit it LL but it is paper blizzard time and things sneak by. Thanks for catching it.

On the FTC website. http://fishingthechehalis.net/nof-process


Update- August 24, 2013.

There has been a flurry of motions and briefs filed by the Willapa Bay Gillnetters Association (WBGA) and WDFW's counsel from the Office of Attorney General. The AG handling the case for WDFW has comfirmed he is working as if on the same team with the firm representing the WBGA. The paper flying is amazing. As an example, WDFW has just filed new briefs amending its responses and the declaration of Region 6 manager Ron Warren to correct numerous errors in Mr. Warren's intitial declaration. The WBGA has filed a motion to strike portions of my declaration claiming, as one example, I don't have any personal knowledge that the public was upset over WDFW ignoring them in NOF and other proceedings used by WDFW to pass the season (I personally delivered petitions with hundreds of signatures and numerous individual letters of opposition to WDFW during the season setting process).

The revised filings will be posted on this page once we can sort through the growing mountain of paper being thrown at our side by WDFW and the WBGA.

Asked the guys pursuing the legal side of things for a update on the hearing and they forwarded the following.


The injunction hearing is set for Thursday August 29th at 9 AM at Thurston County Courthouse before Judge Wickham. It's only the beginning of the legal road and the only question at this point is whether or not the judge will close the season early this year or let it go on while the legal action plays out. Typically, it is a very short process. Judge delayed hearing date so he has had some time to read the lengthy briefs filed by both sides. Then, a judge will typically allow our side to go first for 10-15 minutes and then the other side the same. Asks questions and then gavels it down. Sometimes the judge will announce the decision orally from the bench and in other cases, let us know later. In this case, the judge will probably first decide whether or not the Willapa Bay Gillnetters Association will be allowed to intervene at this point in time. If he agrees to let them in, their attorney will be allotted some time as well. [i][/i]

You can view the documents and updates at http://fishingthechehalis.net/nof-process

Sorry I did not get this out sooner but the hearing challenging the Willapa Commercial Net Season was yesterday and Judge Wickham did not issue his ruling until today. Tim has a complete write up on FTC http://fishingthechehalis.net/nof-process along with all the documents. Look through everything if you wish but even if you do a quick read of the documents the complexity of this issue will be rather apparent. Boiled down Judge Wickham rejected a injunction as the request did not meet the legal standards required. He then indicated in his oral comments that the rejection of the injunction was not the end of the road but rather the issues are complex and will get a complete review and scrutiny as legal process moves forward. I urge you to read the posting on FTC that I linked to previously to get the full picture of the past two days in Thurston County Court.

My thoughts? I have many to sort out but at this stage I think it is a big THANKS Mr. Frawley, our attorney, for the huge effort he has put together for this effort and the PDR legal action. The same kudos for Tim, Art, and Ron for taking the issue on after so many years of pillage of the fisheries resource in the Willapa Estuary.