Occupy Skagit IV

[_WW_]

Occupy Skagit will take place at Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport on April 30th.
The event is a celebration to show your support for the restoration of the spring C&R season on the Skagit. It has been the tradition to spend a few minutes casting hook-less lures into the Skagit for old time's sake.

As in the past we'll get started with a meet and greet at 9:00 and do the traditional wade in after that.

Currently, The Skagit Steelhead Management Plan is due to be submitted to the feds sometime in February. In response to that, we are going to Olympia first, on the 9th, and give the Commissioners and the WDFW Director personal invitations to come up to Rockport and join us in what will be more of a celebration than a protest.

[_WW_]

Still alive underneath the spectre of “Salmageddon” is Occupy Skagit.
There is a plan in place for dealing with Puget Sound salmon when numbers increase. At this time, no such thing exists for Puget Sound wild steelhead. Even a record number of returning fish will not restore any angling opportunity...not even of the catch and release variety.

This is what Occupy Skagit is trying to change. Occupy Skagit stands for basin by basin management instead of one size fits all. The Skagit has a long history of conservative management and as a result still enjoys a viable run of wild steelhead. Past management policies included a C&R season and this is what we would like to see again when the run forecast exceeds conservation influenced escapement goals.

Join us this Saturday in Rockport at Howard Miller Steelhead Park to make a splash for your opportunity!

[Nelly]

Thanks for keeping this issue on the forefront WW!
Good luck up there on Saturday and we'll help spread the word as well!

[_WW_]

In further discussions among our group, one member made an interesting observation:

I have been digesting the situation as well. I think that we can place ourselves in a somewhat advantageous position as the fishery issue that they CAN agree on. I believe both sides could use an issue to show that they can co-manage something. This issue, I believe, is the Skagit C&R fishery. The tribes will get impacts, we will get a season, WDFW gets to open a season rather than close one. NMFS could even come off as the department that's willing to cooperate when the other sides do.

In the last four years of doing this, I have yet to hear from any organization that believes a well regulated C&R season on the Skagit is a bad idea.

And yet the paper work drags on and on and on...