Hope all of you are getting out and enjoying out winter blackmouth fishing. It has been a pretty good season so far. If you have been following along with us, you would know that we have about 3 years into working with salmon hatchery production increases with some other recreational groups, commercials, and the tribes. We have put in a LOT of time trying to unwind the path that has decimated our fish runs. We all agree that we have lost a huge amount of habitat and until we reverse that trend and have healthy habitat we are going to have to rely on hatcheries for most river systems.  We are under some different times and people need to realize that we have been finger pointing so long that we are polarized into fighting over the last fish. So our groups are building coalitions to bring back fish for all to catch. In other words we are working together. This has never happened before. 

Some of us were selected to be on the Governors Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force. We had a hugely uphill battle. Fishers were being blamed as the reason that the Orcas were dying. We proved that it was not us. We had less than a 1% impact. But we are trying to make for fish for all.

The last issue that came up was the Gill Net Ban Senate Bill 5617. Asked why we opposed this bill was simple. It removed the safety net or insurance policy that allows our Lower Columbia River hatcheries to make fish. The other commercial methods that have been tried were not approved to date. The Gill Nets, by place, time and mesh size allowed them to clean up fish in side channel areas and are the only federally approved method.  The missing point here is that these are the commercial license holders they are trying to remove.  We need them in place to catch excess hatchery fish so we cannot only make them but increase production for all of us to start fishing full seasons again. Per ESA and HSRG federally, we are required to keep those fish from competing with wild fish. (pHos)

This done right would have allowed the search for other methods while leaving our safety net in place, if nothing else for emergency use. If we allow those hatchery fish on the spawning beds we could trigger more shutdowns. This was strictly over the Lower Columbia River  as there is only one Gill net fishery in the Puget Sound for Coho and Kings and its on the Samish river area where ESA is not concerned. But Legislature needs to fund the studies if they want to find the alternatives.

While we continue to work on avenues with the tribes and commercials-remember that our goal is to get you, your kids, and your grandkids fisheries rebuilt for all to fish again.  Not everyone agrees with us and that is why we are moving on with or without their blessing. Its past time to make the pie bigger. We have salmon stocking records that show we are protecting wild fish that are strays of other runs. Its time to work towards dispelling that myth.

Take your kids fishing and make some memories. Join your local PSA Chapter.

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.