Many of you might have read my article in last months news article. We have many things at play and they are not as easy to understand at the surface level. We just fished for one week on the Marine Area 9 summer king fishery and it just shut down for a recount as I write this. It was awesome fishing! But is this where are going with our fisheries? Lack of salmon is going to continue to wipe out our coastal communities, state economy, fishering tackle retailers and manufacturers, boat builiders and retailers, and on and on.

We (our government) have a long history of shutting down our fisheries. Between Endangered Species Act, degradation of habitat, flood control, funding cuts, poor ocean and environmental conditions, and HSRG (Hatchery Science Review Group) we will contuinue to lose our salmon unless we change. Our WDFW Commission (Policy makers for WDFW) just suspended 3 points of the policy due to a system that is not working. The policy has been implemented for 10 years and in that time frame we have 43% wild fish than when started. It is important to know that this was made to save wild fish. Since it was being wound into everything fisheries, it made a basis for lawsuits as it went far beyond ESA but was required by government. Time is up. First, everyone needs to know that we are not trying to replace wild fish with hatchery fish. The goal is to rebuild habitat and return to naturally spawning fish. As far as trying to bring back a specific DNA fish from the 1800s is not going to happen so what are we protecting? Not only is the toothpaste out of the tube but washed down the sink decades ago.

When the HSRG points were suspended, the tribes have the same concerns as we do. These points below are directly from the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission letter written by Justin Parker, Executive Director, to the Governor on HSRG. We agree totally with their letter. We could not have said it better! They call out the fact that a scientific paper was never produced. What we have is an opinion that was accepted and used to guide our hatchery programs. Its not the same as a scientific studies that are implimented and tested at all levels.

Letter is to long to print entirely so here are some of the important parts from the tribal letter:"At the outset, the HSRG was an informal, ad hoc advisory group looking to develop a framework to guide retrofit and management of hatcheries to maintain vibrant fisheries in the Pacific Northwest without significantly impacting ESA-listed salmon stocks. This collective effort was known as "hatchery reform."
 

The NWIFC is comprised of the 20 tribes in western Washington with treaty-reserved rights. The member tribes of the NWIFC strongly support independent scientific review of hatchery programs to achieve sustainable salmon production levels in Puget Sound to satisfy the treaty right to fish. When initially formed, the HSRG formulated recommendations to Puget Sound hatchery programs and showed the potential for providing review and support when solicited. We are concerned, however, that the HSRG is no longer able to fulfill the initial intent of their role and there is no avenue to address our concerns, some of which are listed below: 

* Lack of Accountability-no organization provides oversight or assists in determining HSRG priorities, or      safeguards transparency to ensure independence from external influences or conflicts.

*Lack of Progress-no guidance or procedures are in place to ensure that membership is balanced and qualified. An additional concern is that the terms are unlimited.

*Limited Scientific Scrutiny-the HSRG is best known for developing thresholds for acceptable or unacceptable hatchery programs based on the proportions of hatchery and natural fish spawning in the wild and used in the hatchery broodstock. Because the HSRG has never published a scientific paper on these thresholds of the scientific models they developed, these have never been exposed to the rigorous scientific peer review. This diminishes credibility of the HSRG and the legitimacy of the thresholds. 

*Scientific Stagnation-the HSRG, at its inception, focused on synthesizing new ideas to advance hatchery practices. Currently, most of the scientific innovation in hatchery practices occurs at the federal, state or tribal level, as interagency and co-management cooperation and coordination have proven to be more productive and efficient to discuss new research and approaches. More importantly, in the face of increased population growth and development, basin-specific approaches and innovations are occurring.

For the reasons outlined above we would like to work with you to develop an appropriate and accountable co-managerscieentific review process that advances our shared conservation and fisheries objectives of optimizing hatchery production to achieve our shared objectives. AT the same time, we respectfully request the removal of all provisos from the governors proposed/sponsored budget that would require consultation, contracting with or otherwise maintaining the HSRG. We also would like your assistance to ensure that the final adopted budget does not include any such provisions, including the exercise of your veto power if necessary."

This my fishing friends is a "Gamechanger!" Working with the tribes to rebuild our fisheries means more fish for all and a cloak for our wild fish to hide among the hatchery fish to get to BC, Alaska, and back home to us as well as hide from the overwheming amount of predators that no one wants to address. PSA has been personally working with our tribal friends and this is what it is going to take to rebuild our fisheries stocks. Using broodstocks for hatcheries in their same rivers is very important in my mind to help accelerate our fisheries before we lose our precious SKRW orcas. The orcas are silently counting on us to save them. Fix our fisheries, save the orcas. Its that simple. As I write this some of the anti-hatchery groups and other recreational and HSRG driven groups are mounting pressure on the governor to reinstate HSRG. Its important to know that PSA is one of the only ones fighting to fix this as we have done the HSRG experiment and its time to go another direction before we all quit fishing and lose our orcas. Please support the governor in this important battle. Its important to know that we have had river systems plummet in the past and that was the reason why many other stocks of salmon and steelhead have been placed in other river systems to replenish them. With 100+ years of interjecting strains of fish into other rivers, what do we expect to accomplish? Please support us in this important battle

Ron Garner