That there might be the $64,000 question> NEXT

"What does "commercial fishing failure" mean?"


I'm pretty sure that it means. "Hey Mr. Presindent I've been doing everything that I can to keep the pawns in line and to support your administration, and not without spending some of my own political capital. So you see now that I have an election coming up I could use a little help, maybe you can send us back some of those dollars that my States taxpayers have been sending your way, then hopefully my stupid voters will be deceived into thinking that I got some free federal dollars, and if enough of them think that and reward me with their votes we can keep this scam going. Jay Inslee"

Yep

I just want to touch on the NOF participation issue for a moment:

I too have spent a lot of time attending fisheries meetings, both as a boat fisher and as a bankie. I find it no coincidence that a very large portion of the sport fishers in attendance are boaters. Here's my thoughts.

The meetings are held during the week and at times that most younger guys and gals are having to work. They are also held for time periods the take up the whole day.

Older guys (retirees like myself) and others have less pressure and financially are in better positions in life to both, own a boat and have time to participate. Of course, there are always exceptions.

Is this by design? Perhaps. But I can say, I really think this may explain why the majority of participants are boat owners.

The bigger concern is WHY are the negotiations that are done with the tribes closed to the public? I'm sure we would all take off from work to sit in on those!!

I would go to the Mill Creek NOF meeting and it was held in the evening-- the commercials would meet earlier that day.

I'm curious to know what affect if any, the lack of fishing in puget sound had on the local economy, specifically revenues generated in Puget sound area tackle stores, marinas and boat launches...

I'm also curious if the lack of opportunity actually generated more spending in terms of longer trips to areas open to salmon and other types of fish.

For me personally, I spent $400 on a new tuna rod, reel and bait on an out of town trip that I would have spent locally on salmon gear and supplies (bait gas, hooks, line) had it been open.

Regional NOF meetings seem to be weekday evening. Mill Creek, the last few years has been held on a Saturday.

Good question Piper. On thing for sure, Jay Inslee doesn't' know or give two shits about sport anglers.

It was very odd out searun cutthroat fishing this past weekend and seeing hardly any boats out on a beautiful fall weekend. Had things not be closed, lots of folks would have been out and about participating in the Everett Derby.

I really feel sorry for the tackle retailers, especially smaller shops like John's and Ted's. They should be able to apply for aid if the commercials can.

I know I've spent a heck of a lot less money this summer. I usually feel like I'm funding the state's ferry fleet. I cancel my vacation this year which is usually my nine day September coho bender.
SF

I planned my retirement so I could beach fish coho in August and Sept. Instead I spent that money at Lowes.

Yeah that ^^^ My yard looks great and the freezer is empty. Driving me nuts to drive across the Snohomish and see all those nice fat silvers plugged in there with no opportunity to go get them. Nov 1 will be awesome but I'm sure gonna miss my October silver fishing not to mention September in the sound. Oh well - closed a few more deals at work so I guess that and the lawn are the silver lining.

My new goal is to catch and release some beach coho come Nov 1st when things open back up.
It won't be easy that late in the season, but based on the size of some of the coho I've seen jumping this year the effort will be worth it.
SF

Sounds good Brian.

The Skagit is open for coho!!!!

Skagit and Cascade rivers open to coho and gamefish; Sauk River opens for gamefish

Action: Open the Skagit and Cascade rivers to fishing for coho salmon and gamefish. Open the Sauk River to fishing for gamefish.

Species affected: Coho salmon and gamefish.

Effective dates: Sept. 28 through Nov. 30, 2016.

Locations for salmon:

SKAGIT RIVER: From the mouth to the Cascade River Road (Marblemount) Bridge. Coho daily limit 4, of which no more than 2 may be wild. Bait prohibited. Anti-snagging rule, and night closure in effect.
CASCADE RIVER: From the mouth to Rockport Cascade Road Bridge. Coho daily limit 4. Anti-snagging rule, and night closure in effect.

4 coho daily limit? What might the limit have been if this had been a strong return?

Nice to see the Skagit finally open! Never really wanted to fish Puget Sound salt and I love that upper Skagit river as it truly is a magical place. Some years up there it was a two fish limit and when run assessment was done it bumped up to 3 a few years back and in good years past it has been 2 hatchery and 2 wild! Epic days up there :-)

After salt water harvests?????

While the issue is complicated the answer is really easy and has been done before in other fisheries.

Striped bass on the Atlantic Coast and Chesapeake Bay
Redfish in the Gulf of Mexico

Make salmon a game fish and stop all commercial harvesting.

"If you want to eat wild seafood you should have to catch it and kill it" Yourself, personally.

We no longer have market hunting for wild game, even the tribes can't do it.

The treaty tribes can still have their 50% of the harvestable fish, they just can't sell them on the open market. They can sell/trade them amongest the tribes but not outside.

I realize the economic impact of this but the fact is if your business model is overharvesting a finite resource then your business is doomed to fail at some point. Buffalo hunting comes to mind. Not to mention the economic gain that would be seen from the increase in sports fishing $$ spent and tourism.

The issue is far more complicated than this I know but as far as I am concerned that should be the ultimate goal and we should work with the tribes to accomplish it.

Impossible you say? It worked for market hunting and it also worked for striped bass and redfish. Now those are two awesome sport fisheries that bring in millions of $$.

This year is unique in that there were no substantial marine impacts on Coho before the tribal nets went in. The WDFW told advisors last week that the Muckleshoot had netted over 14K coho in the green so far this year.

My question is: Since w have no "upstream" impacts in marine areas this year, what is the department doing to ensure that recreational interests get their fair share of the surplus? Who is advocating on recreational fishing interests behalf within the department, and to what degree?

Knowing that sport fishing has not come close to the catching the amount of fish the tribes have thus far, shouldnt the nets be immeadiately pulled from the water to ensure that recreation fishermen and women can catch their fair share? We are supposed to get 50%, right, and this year we are trending to get about 10%.

Where is the emergency tribal closure to ensure equity in allocation? Where is the Co management?

exactly

Spot On!

They did open the lower green and will be opening higher stretches of the river in October and increased the limit to 3 adults though. Perhaps that's how we are supposed to get our 50%?