The Outdoor Line Forum

When you see in person or read about the gillnetting going on (legally) Who sets these seasons? I know everyone blames w.d.f.w. but there has to be some other outside political entity at stake. It makes me sad to see almost NO chum on the snohomish system and the only reason is Poor management with the ramp up in nets in the sound.When I started guiding it was nothing to get 50+chum a day. My worries is the pink's are next because "there's alot of them" and there price for the eggs are up. Whats next? Is there a single person who is accountable? I know the c.c.a is doing all it can as well as other groups. I am a life long fisherman and my glass is ALWAYS half full but just a little worried about our fish and our fishery's in the future

Hey TT,
Sorry I was so late in responding to this post.
It's a great question, a HUGE issue facing all of us and the future of our salmon runs is at stake.

Basically, the WDFW management plan earmarks chinook & coho for recreational harvest while chums & pinks bear the brunt of commercial harvest.

From my viewpoint, the time for a viable commercial salmon fishery in Puget Sound is long gone.

Several studies have shown that a salmon caught by a recreational fisherman is worth TEN TIMES MORE to the local economy than the same fish commercially harvested.
In these days of governmental budget cuts, it makes absolutely no sense for the State of Washington to continue to subsidize commercial fishing of any kind.

So, what's a concerned angler to do??? GET INVOLVED!!! Join CCA, PSA, educate yourself on all of the management aspects and VOTE!

Look at the recent success of the crab re-allocation issue as well as the expansion of our selective salmon opportunities! The tide is turning and state governments can no longer afford to ignore sportsfishing dollars.

I sincerely believe that we will continue to see advancements on the cormorant predation issue, halibut, shrimp and other issues as well.

To your question "is there a single person who is accountable", the short answer is no. Only by pointing out the commercial harvest and waste of out salmon runs and applying pressure to out elected representatives will we move the recreational fishing agenda forward.

State Senator Kevin Ranker is the Chair of the Enrgy, Natural Resources & Marine Waters Committee. They were also instrumental in the implementation of the Discover WA Pass. He may be contacted at:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/senate/senators/pages/ranker.aspx
or
Energy, Natural Resources & Marine Waters
411 J.A. Cherberg Bldg., P.O. Box 40466, Olympia, WA 98504-0466
Committee Hearings & Bill Information: (360) 786-7419
Legislative Hotline Operators: 1-800-562-6000

The Senate Energy, Natural Resources & Marine Waters Committee considers issues relating to: energy; fish and wildlife; parks and recreation; state lands management; marine resources; forestry, forest health, and fire; and geology and surface mining.

I have written him on several issues.
One more venue to be heard through.
L8R
Dan

Talltails -
To expand a bit on Nelly's post.

First we should be clear that the vast majority of the non-treaty commercially caught chums in Puget Sound are caugth in purse seines not gill nets. Ending the use of gill nets will not end non-treaty commercial fishing - it will just shift the catch from one commercial pocket to another.

Chum like all of our salmon and steelhead do not have static abundance; rather they shift dramatically over time. The dynamic nature of salmon abundacnes should be expected; though managers have not dealt well with those shifts in the past. When I first started steelhead fishing (1960s) I think I fished for a decade before I saw enough chums caught that I would have needed more than 1 hand to count them (though to be fair I didn't start fishing until Thanksgiving.. During the early 1980s I first started targeting chums on the Skykomish it was common to fish all day long in November and not see more than a handful of other anglers. A day with a double digit catch would have been a red-letter day. By the late 1980s and 1990s there where lots of chums in the river double digit chum catches the norm and I had a lot more company on the irver. In the last decade we have seen a swing back towards lower abundances. Granted the commercial catches influenced the in-river run sizes the bottom line still remains that overall run sizes yoyo up and down a lot over the last 50 years.

To the question of who is responsible for these fisheries? The answer we all are - both collectively and individually. It is State policy (both through the legislature and WDFW Commission) to harvest chum in commerical fisheries. If we want to see changes it becomes the responsibility of all of us - collectively and individual - to get involved and through self education and hard work change those policies. While it looks like a major up hill battle as Nelly mentioned it can be done - reference the recent PS crab changes.

He also mentioned the PS Chinook selective fisheries. Those changes came about largely due to the hard work of a dozen individuals in 2006.

Nelly mentioned that for PS origin Chinook, coho, and sockeye the recreational fisheries are given priority when it comes to opportunities. Thatt direction comes WDFDW commission's North of Falcon policy.

If you want to see changes in PS chum a place to start might be WDFW that North of Falcon policy.

That Policy (# C-3001) directs that for PS origin chum directs that "...the majority of harvest will be provided to the commercial fisheries."

That polciy for pink salmon prior to last year was the same as the chum one but through work of primarily two individuals that policy was changed to read for PS origin pinks :...seasons will be established that provide meaningful opportunities for both recreational and commercial fisheries while minimizing gear and other fishery conflicts"

While the change in the pink policy is not where many of us may want to be at least now the recreational fishery is now in the conservation the point here is that by getting involved folks can influence how our resources are managed. However it does require that someone roll up their sleeves and do the hard work.

Tight lines
Curt