The Worst Hatchery Program

WDFW Closes Portion of Sol Duc River

First, I have to rant that there seems to be no middle ground with WDFW.  Fisheries are either wide open or closed.  Couldn't they have just closed this section to chinook retention?  Selective gear?  Just lazy management for a non-native hatchery stock of fish.

Why is the Sol Duc Springer hatchery program one of the worst in the state?  First, winter steelhead get no break in fishing pressure (both sport and commercial) during May.  Nets targeting springers kill downstream winter steelhead, and I personally think that a repeat spawning steelhead is more valuable than a non-native hatchery chinook.

But the worst part is the impact this program has on other watersheds.  You might have heard that Olympic National Park closed all fishing in the Hoh River this summer to protect wild chinook in the Hoh.  The Park closed water even as the state has an open springer fishery with bait and barbs in the lower river.  Why is there a fishery on chinook in the Hoh?  Simple, to harvest the Sol Duc hatchery springers that stray into the Hoh.  Not only does this program close water on the Sol Duc but it screws up the management on other rivers too.

All the springer program seems to be good for is tribal netting, killing wild steelhead, guide welfare, and closing waters on two rivers... but they're good to eat.

Take Action for Wild Fish

Two important things to do for wild fish.

First up is the 2012-2013 Sportfishing Rule Proposals from WDFW.  There are important rule changes regarding wild fish protection throughout Puget Sound and the Coast.  Write or attend the meeting (or both) regarding protecting juvenile salmonids and resident trout.

2012-2013 Rule Proposals

Second up is the Wild Fish Conservancy's campaign against non-native hatchery fish in the Elwha River.  Help them help wild fish recovery after the dam removal.

Protect Wild Elwha Steelhead and Salmon

Can There Be Just One

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.

Apathy

I had a chance to go to the WDFW Director's roundtable in Aberdeen last night. It was a great opportunity to learn about the budget issues effecting the department and talk directly to Phil Anderson, the Director of WDFW. Along with the director, there were numerous staff members there to respond to questions. The director discussed the budget and seemed eager to hear from the public about any ideas to save money and fishing and hunting problems. It was a full house with a great question and answer period with Phil Anderson.

While it was a full house there is a certain segment of the fishing community completely absent from these meetings. There were very few young people present. I am 38 years old and felt like a young kid at this forum. During the numerous questions, there were only two other questions besides mine that specifically dealt with protecting wild fish. Where are the wild fish advocates? Where are all the passionate anglers that post enthusiastically on internet fishing boards about catch and release and protecting wild steelhead?

Yes, the meeting wasn't in a large Puget Sound city, but Aberdeen is one hour from Olympia. It's not that far to speak to the head of the agency and meet and learn from area biologists and fish program managers.

When you wonder why WDFW continues to use old ideas in their management, look to who goes to these meetings and speaks to the decision makers.

Same Old Thing

I know, I shouldn't be surprised. 

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." sums it up when it comes to WDFW's continued management of fish stocks from abundance into extinction.  The latest in a series of head scratchers is below:


http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/newreal/release.php?id=dec2409a

"OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has scheduled a public meeting Wednesday, Jan. 6 in Kelso to discuss prospects for smelt fisheries on the Cowlitz River and other tributaries to the Columbia River in 2010.
The meeting will be held from 6-8 p.m. on the third floor of the Cowlitz County Administration Building at 207 4th Ave. N. in Kelso.
As in recent years, state fishery managers are predicting low returns of Pacific smelt in 2010. In addition, NOAA Fisheries has proposed listing the species as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). A final decision on the proposed listing is expected in March.
“Fishery managers are thinking long and hard about what kind of smelt fishery – if any – makes sense in light of the proposed ESA listing,” said Bill Tweit, WDFW Columbia River policy leader. “Before we begin making those decisions, we’d like to hear what the public has to say.”
Earlier this month, representatives of WDFW and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife agreed on restrictive sport and commercial smelt-fishing seasons for the Columbia River, but delayed decisions about the Cowlitz River and other tributaries.
Sport fishing for smelt on the mainstem Columbia River will be open seven days per week starting Jan. 1, although anglers catch very few fish there. The ongoing commercial fishery will be restricted to Mondays and Thursdays starting Jan. 1 through March 31.
Columbia River smelt are part of a designated West Coast population that extends from the Mad River in northern California to northern British Columbia. A scientific review by NOAA Fisheries found that this stock is declining throughout its range, mostly due to changes in ocean conditions."

So we have a fish stock declining throughout it's range, mainly due to ocean conditions that soon will be listed under the ESA.  So the plan is to continue serving the needs of resource users until the stock plummets to extinction.

Good thing they want to hear what the public thinks.  Too bad there has been no shutdown of the commercial and sport harvest fisheries.

Same ol' Thing, Same ol' Thing.... at least the song is catchy.

The Levee Broke

Looks like the last of the "healthy" wild steelhead runs in Washington State has failed to meet escapement.  A recent thread on the Piscatorial Pursuits bulletin board (Click here for Thread) puts last seasons wild winter steelhead numbers on the Quillayute at 4700 wild steelhead.  The escapement goal is 5900 fish.  Let's also not forget that the Quillayute is a huge river system which includes the Sol Duc, Bogachiel, Calawah, and Dicky rivers.  So that 5900 escapement figure is basically a joke to any one with a conservation bone in their body or who has any idea about the historical numbers these systems used to produce.
 
As sad as this news is, it might be a wakeup call for anglers and WDFW to change the management scheme (although pyramid or ponzi might better describe the current management scheme) so that in 10 years we cannot even imagine fishing over such low run sizes and that run sizes in 10 years are 3-5 times what they were last season.
 
If you have a chance send an e-mail to the WDFW Commission and let them know that under escapement is unacceptable and that strong harvest restrictions and hatchery reform is necessary to prevent this from happening again. 
 
WDFW Commission e-mail
 

Today is It!!!

Today is the final day to send in comments to the WDFW Commissions regarding 2010-2012 Sportfishing Rule changes. There's some important conservation proposals that need public comment, along with some strange ones like setting aside the best small-boat bottomfishing in the state for the dive community.

Here's a link to the proposals

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/rule_proposals/

Send in your e-mails on this final day... this was my final paragraph

"Washington State has seen dramatic declines in all of the fish stocks. To act as though there are fish populations immune to overfishing and decline is just putting your head in the sand. The best time to act for the future is to protect populations when they are abundant and not wait until action is beyond necessary. This goes not only for rockfish, but all other fish populations in the Northwest. The time to pretend that the past management that put our fish stocks on the brink will continue to work on the few remaining stocks deemed healthy is over. In 50 year, will the pictures of wheelbarrows full of rockfish from 2009 be perceived the same way as pictures of stringers of 100 trout from a century ago? You stand on the brink with the power to lead our fisheries into the next century with the knowledge that comes from watching management failures and using updated science. You can march into the future, or be dragged backwards by the institutional inertia of failed policies. It’s your choice, but we are watching and future citizens will judge you on what you do now."