Supplemental Selective Fishery Season, A Proposal

Closure of the catch-and-release, selective gear rules season on North Puget Sound rivers compels the thereby deprived anglers and guides to petition for relief. In lieu of such closure, the Washington Fish and Wildlie Commission is requested to consider and approve, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife is tasked to devise and implement a Supplemental Selective Fishery Season on the Olympic Peninsula.

Proposal: Open under "catch-and-release only," selective gear rules from March 1 to April 30, 2001 would be the following rivers: the Quillayute River System (Bogachiel, Calawah,Dickey, Sol Duc and Quillayute); and the Hoh, Queets, Clearwater, upper Quinalt and Humptulips Rivers.

Rationale: Accustomed after twenty years to a quality spring steelhead season, anglers and their guides from the state's population core deserve an inviting fishery as solace for sport lost. The designated Olympic rivers will experience inordinate fishing pressure from anglers displaced from Puget Sound waters. The proposed Supplemental Selective Fishery Season would limit expected impact on the resource yet promote maximum recreational opportunity.

Rather than diminish, let us increase what is right about fishing in Wahington. Our state fish is too valuable to be caught only once.

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