We have had so many issues going on at this time. Legislature at the time of this writing is a mess. No one was happy with North of Falcon outcome for the Puget Sound as all areas took a cut.  The Fee Increase bill was held hostage for the Gill Net Ban Bill by Senate. Hatchery Reform or Hatchery Science Review Group that was suspended by the WDFW Commission is being reviewed has some concerns. It sounds like Lee Blankenship, Vice Chair, is retiring and I have heard that a possible candidate that is applying is Bill McMillan of Wild Fish Conservancy on the Federal HSRG Board. If so I have major concerns with this.

PSA continually has fought behind the scenes to keep us fishing. We and a handful of others were instrumental in showing that fishing was not the reason that Orcas were dying at the Orca Task Force level. This behemoth would have turned into a full blown fishing closure and was headed that way. We would not be worrying about losing some opportunity but all opportunity.

While many of us PSA members are Ocean Sportfishers,  we have watched our ocean fisheries from Ilwaco to Neah Bay collapse. The main ocean fish that we used to catch are the Lower Columbia River Chinook. That run was one of the mightiest Chinook runs on the West Coast of North America. This massive run carried the brunt of sport fishing fleet, commercial fleet, and many tribal fleets, while providing protection for the weaker stocks that could hide inside these huge runs. When you fished the ocean and got into multiple hook ups, these were the LCR Chinook and the "biters" that were easy to catch. Those were the golden years. Enter ESA on the LCR Chinook. That started the decline in production of these kings that thousands of anglers caught and kept the coastal and tribal communities alive and well. Take a look at Ilwaco, Westport, La Push, and Neah Bay today. Tell me those are thriving communities,  as well as other coastal and tribal communities in the Puget Sound. Since we have cut back chinook and coho hatchery production by 160 Million fish per year since 1992, it has absolutely wiped out all of these port and tribal communities that relied on recreational and commercial fishing dollars to keep them whole. Salmon seasons brought in millions of dollars to these communities to catch these wonderful fish as well as over 2 billion dollars a year to Washington state.

When PSA helped Frank Urabeck fight to save the Puget Sound Steelhead that was going to be killed by the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit, the Steelhead Trout Club of Washington, Frank Urabeck as PSA representative, shouldered up with NOAA, WDFW, Tribes, and State Attorney General office to put so much pressure to fight off this lawsuit, that WFC did not pursue it and went straight after the Columbia River Chinook. HGMPs were not in place so it gave them cover to sue the feds. This started screwing down the hatchery output to very low production. This Lower Columbia River Production is now at 37%! Just over 1/3rd! Combine this ESA with HSRG/ Hatchery Reform, funding cuts, terrible ocean conditions (the ocean blob was still present up to the end of last year in lesser form!) and salmon predators (seals, sealions, and birds eating smolts) all have taken a toll on our Chinook and other fish.

Why did PSA not back the gill net ban? This is letting a loophole be left behind to allow more hatchery cuts that will do more damage to our hatchery production cutting even more recreational fishing. Many half-truths were told to these legislators that would cause a backfire and collapse even more of our Chinook and the fisheries. The average person listens to the others and it all sounds good but it is quite concerning. The gill net ban was about the Columbia River and not the Puget Sound as there is no Chinook and Coho Gill Net Fisheries in the Puget Sound other than a small one in the Bellingham bay for the Samish River Chinook. This was all about the Columbia River.  At the time of Gill Net Ban Bill SB 5617 announcement we had an 80% recreational /20% commercial split. Thats a pretty good percentage of fish for our recreationals to catch. Some of the main people behind the gill net bill do not like hatcheries and leading this charge. They want the commercial gone and this was that attempt. The NT Gill Netters are the NT Commercials on the Columbia River. If there are NT commercial fisheries these are the people that they go to, to clean them up or catch the excess fish. SB 5617 was going to eliminate them. They would not have their licenses and be available to try other test fisheries. This bill could have been made so easy by providing funding for them and allow them to find the selective method BEFORE removing our parachute with a drop dead due date. Its sad that NOAA/feds were not called in to explain to Leginslature like Senator Pearson did on the steelhead lawsuit calling in Rob Jones of NOAA to get the straight scoop from them before going forward and trying to force state law onto federal fish management. This would have been the correct procedure instead of blaming the messengers. Just like the recreational priority bill where the same groups tried to go out and take fish away from the ocean trollers to give to recreationals. They quickly found out that the state does not have power over federally managed fisheries and it could not be done.

PSA has been working with NOAA and PFMC on ocean fisheries for many years on seasons. Without sitting at the table with them to work on ocean fisheries and seasons, we too, would not have the understanding  to strategize this out to the end to understand what the final results would be. Over and over we have been told by NOAA that we have to have commercial clean up as hook and line cannot clean up the excess hatchery fish or we cut back hatchery production. Even CCA's Andy Marks at the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources, and Parks Committee Hearing on Febuary 12 said, that we need commercial clean up to continue to put out hatchery fish. His message was that we have two tools, production and harvest. Production has been decreased because we have failed to catch excess hatchery fish. This is correct and I could not agree with Andy more on this issue.

With all of this controversy I decided to call NOAA and had a long talk with them on the nets on the Columbia River and sportfishing. I am sure that this gillnet ban bill will come up again so it is important that you understand what it means and the effects from changing it will cause. They agreed with what we have been saying all along. Hook and Line is not efficient enough to catch enough hatchery fish and requires other methods (commercials) to be able to catch them and keep them off of the spawning grounds.Since the Columbia River has a recreational priority it is managed for us to catch most of the ish. We are on the water for months whereas the commercials are only there for weeks if not days. So most of the wild impacts are from us, recreationals. We were over our impacts last year while the commercials were not. Buoy 10 is the Worlds Largest Recreational Salmon fishery (didn't know this) and that fishery could not catch enough hatchery fish so it triggered hatchery production decreases in the Lower Columbia River, exactly what PSA has been fighting against. The higher the ratio of recreational/commercial that has a larger number on the recreational side, the less hatchery fish will be produced. This could be one of the reasons for the change in the WDFW CR Policy from 80/20 to 70/30 after review. I am asking you not to take my word or any other organization, but to call NOAA yourself so you hear it straight from the horses mouth.  Don't shoot the messenger but educate yourself. The truth has to be known. We are following the path of applying the same methods that shut down the Puget Sound Hatchery Production and now applying it to the Columbia River. An example is in 2016 when we had no agreement with the Puget Sound Tribes on North of Falcon. When we finally reached agreement and the runs looked to be bigger than thought, we had no commercials to see if we could update the run size, so we were not able to add additional fishing to our recreational side. Washington state took away the Chinook and Coho from the nontribal side and let them have pinks and chums. So we lost our tool in the tool box to update the run size. When you take away a license from a gillnetter, why would they stay to see if an experimental clean up could happen someday?

The Gill net ban bill sounded like a great way to go selective on the CR, but there is no perfect mousetrap. While studying many other experimental types of commercial fisheries during this bill, none have had less impacts on natural run fish. Beach seines have had huge impacts on steelhead, purse seines meant to release wild fish have had huge mortality rates on all of the fish in the nets when the water hits 70 degrees or more, which is all summer and fall. One method that has been used is the tangle mesh nets. This is a net that has much smaller openings and catches the fish by the teeth and they can be released if they are unclipped. But they are listed under the gill net category which ends up being taken out by the substitute senate bill 5617. One other important issue on this bill is what is going to happen when the CR tribes show up to do the clean up as this bill is to remove our nontribal commercials. Ever heard of Foregone opportunity? If we cannot catch them then the tribes will. Since this was so controversial you are probably going to see the tribes now move into the lower Columbia River. We had a fairly well managed fishery that was 80/20 to our favor. The NT side-channel gillnets did not even take 4000 fish (I heard reported that they killed 50,000 being reported through this bill) and only got 36 hours. We need to keep a tool in the tool box if you want to keep fishing the ocean and lower Columbia. Guess who has had the most impacts? Our side below Bonneville. We have gone over two years in a row and NOAA has said if we do it again that they are stepping in. You need to know the truth about what is going on about the gill net ban bill. This controversy lead to a very nice long 1.5 hour talk with Gary Loomis. While I agree with his ideals and goals, I told him that we are not allowed to manage ESA fisheries with what his ideas and goals were no matter how good they are. When season setting we have to have allow for commercial clean up or we cut production. Its that simple, or we have less fish for us to catch and put the Orcas in more peril.

Patagonia and Wild Fish Conservancy launched a campaign to cut back hatcheries to have more wild fish for the Orcas. Orcas dont need one or two wild bigger fish but a lot of salmon. There would not be enough salmon if hatchery production continues to get cut. Patagonia and Wild Fish Conservancy could cause our Orcas to go extinct through their actions. Naturally Spawning fish are not making a comeback anywhere in any numbers and hatchery fish provide protection from the predators just by hiding in the hatchery fish.

Havent you had enough of fighting over the last fish? Tell me that you are fishing now more than you were 10-25 years ago before all of this happened? We produced a ton more fish and we were all on the water. its time to revert to those days and do whatever is possible to get our hatcheries back up and running. The Fee Bill Died in Legislature that will possibly cut hatchery production 2.6 million fish. However there was additional hatchery funds put into the fishery due to the work of from our tribes and others. I just hope these are not destined only for the Orcas.

We hope you have  great summer and our salmon returns start to go up from cooler waters. They need all of the help they can get. Join your local PSA chapter. We are working with others that want to make fishing better, not take your fish away. 

Ron Garner President PSA

Pod cast on Ocra Whales with Butch Smith from Coho Charters    

Protecting Washington’s Yelloweye Rockfish

Rockfish Identification Flyer    

Video - Rockfish are back!!

Did you know that some yelloweye rockfish that are here today were Washington residents before it became a state in 1889? They have been and continue to be an important part of our heritage.

Halibut and bottomfish fishing have also been a part of Washington’s culture for hundreds of years. Many generations of fishermen have relied on halibut and bottomfish for food and recreation.

Fishery Management

A recent stock assessment indicates that the yelloweye rockfish population has declined over 80% from its initial level.  As a result, immediate action must be taken if the stocks of these long-lived fish are to be rebuilt. 

To rebuild yelloweye rockfish populations, the harvest opportunities for this species must be severely curtailed.  In recent years, the Pacific Fishery Management Council has set yelloweye rockfish harvest levels for all commercial, recreational, and tribal fisheries combined for California, Oregon, and Washington of about 17 metric tons (mt). This number includes yelloweye rockfish that are discarded at sea.

The Washington recreational harvest target is about 2.7 mt (fewer than 1,000 fish) in coastal waters.  To put this in perspective, in 2001, the Washington recreational fishery harvested 15 mt.