Get ready for some great salmon
fishing returns this summer. We should have some quality fish still coming
back. Last year out of Westport we did not get a single pale meated king. All
were a red/orange colored meat and these were fall kings too. Our fish found
the krill. They were better tasting than the coho!
Shrimping was pretty good for
us locally. I was able to get out my three young granddaughters. This is what
life is all about. Teaching them about our environment and resources. They
really enjoy this as much as I do watching them, whether its fishing, crabbing,
or shrimping. They can’t wait to do it again! Make sure to kids and grandkids
out on the water. This is why we fight so hard to bring back the fish so they
too, can enjoy what we have, and for future generations.
We are starting to get people
to understand what we have been doing for the last 30 years has not been
working so why keeping doing the same thing? Its time to use reality to fix
fisheries.
Facts that people need to
understand to help us fix our fisheries:
1. There is no such thing as a
“wild” Chinook in Washington State (or pure Gene bank fish) they were wiped out
commercially 120-130 years ago. What we have left are mixed stocks that are
descendants of many strains of different fish to rebuild.
2. Our estuaries where these
massive runs of schools used to reside/spawn now are mostly dirt.
3. 99% of the natural spawners
(so called wild) eggs get washed down the rivers now do to the 60-year floods
that come every year or two. We straightened the rivers and channelized them to
get the water out to sea quickly to ward off floods, as well as used for
transportation starting in the 1880s. This increased the velocity of the
rivers. Therefore, hatchery eggs are under human oversight and are protected
from these conditions-the reason they survive better.
4. When DNA was brought about,
salmon and steelhead had already been transferred from river to river to
rebuild runs. The toothpaste is not only out of the tube but was washed down
the rivers many decades ago. Now ESA is trying to protect a fish that really is
no longer there. By establishing them as distinct population units, means you
have to use the same stock in that river now to rebuild it when it is already
crashing. This prevents us from quickly rebuilding river runs.
Get out on the water and enjoy
our resources while PSA continues to fight for you and your family. Join your
local PSA Chapter.
