Lately, I've been talking a lot about hatcheries on this blog. I just finished writing a note to WDFW about the five year fishing moratorium on the Elwha River (Elwha Fishing Moratorium) and I couldn't get a thought out of my head.
Do we have one major river system in Western Washington without hatcheries? I go through a mental list of the major steelhead and salmon rivers and cannot think of any. Is our hatchery addiction so bad we have to plant 60,000 chambers creek fish during dam removal on the Elwha during a five year fishing moratorium?
While the state has stopped planting on lots of small tributaries with no collection facilities, nothing has been done for the larger, more productive systems.
I guess some movement is better than none, but the slow pace in the face of extinction and closures is beyond frustrating.
I think it's time to try to get out and do some more fishing.
Great post, really got me thinking
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