At the top we have WDFW, the WDFW Commission, and the AAG opposed to open government so that the agency can negotiate and make decisions in secret, and share the outcome with the public only after it is a done deal. Is it a wise use of public funds to invest in a presumably "public" agency that does this?

Among the "after the fact" decisions that WDFW shared with us is that a well-known river basin, the Stillaguamish, instead of opening for gamefish seasons as expected on May 25, remains closed until September 16 for a fall and early winter fishing season. WDFW tells me it's "necessary" in order to protect Stillaguamish Chinook salmon. That's bullsh!t. The model claims that a normal summer fishing season, which targets summer steelhead and sea run cutthroat trout (SRC), would "take" three Stillaguamish Chinook, although that's dubious.

The preponderance of the summer fishing on the Stilly is fly fishing for steelhead and SRC, a method that doesn't often result in hooking Chinook. But since fly fishers are a bunch of elitist pricks, throwing them under the bus for imaginary Chinook conservation benefits probably seems worth it to WDFW. But if WDFW actually cared about its sportfishing constituents, it could have further modified fishing regulations to reduce the likelihood that Chinook might be taken incidentally. WDFW could have imposed the fly fishing only regulation on the entire watershed for the summer, floating lines only, and no flies larger than size 6 hooks. I know, that much creativity to protect recreational angling opportunity is way above WDFW's collective thinking.

Lest anyone think I don't care about Stilly Chinook, let me state that I do care. As has been written here and elsewhere, Stilly Chinook are in a world of hurt. But fishing, at least in WA state isn't the cause of that hurt. The Stillaguamish watershed has become so degraded that Chinook cannot reproduce effectively enough to replace themselves from one generation to the next. That is, the spawning population of about 400 Chinook cannot produce enough surviving eggs and smolt to return a subsequent run of 400 Chinook. The population is on a severe declining trend, and we could halt any and all fishing everywhere in WA state without making any difference. The population still cannot replace itself. It is on an extirpation trajectory, regardless of whether those elitist pricks or anyone else fishes the Stilly, Puget Sound, the Strait, or not.

There is one action that can save Stilly Chinook. That is to continue the efforts of the Stillaguamish Tribe and WDFW to culture Stilly Chinook in recovery hatchery programs. The existing programs need to be improved (for better survival rates) and probably expanded from their current size. That effort needs to be sustained most likely for the next 50 to 100 years. Yeah, the habitat is degraded that badly. So it's either a safety net hatchery program for Stilly Chinook, not so different than what USFWS did for the Californial condor, or Stilly Chinook will disappear. Closing the gamefish seasons for steelhead and SRC does not and will not have any effect on the outcome of sustaining Stilly Chinook into the foreseeable future.

Speaking of 50 years, considering what WDFW has done for this season, and did last season, I can only predict that WDFW will throw us under the bogus conservation bus and close the Stilly summer season every year for the next 50 years. What reason can anyone give to expect WDFW to do any differently?

And as if that isn't discouraging enough, I mean, why care if you're not one of those elitist prick fly fishers on the Stilly, project this action forward. PS Chinook have been ESA listed for 20 years now. During this time frame Chinook populations have continued their downward trend. Recovery is no where on the horizon. So after Stilly, what is the next weakest Chinook population? Probably one of the Hood Canal stocks. Green and Puyallup wild Chinook are consistently augmented by hatchery Chinook that spawn with the wilds, which themselves are the product of prior generations of hatchery fish spawning in the natural environment. The upshot is that if Stilly style conservation logic continues, then every single freshwater stream in PS will be closed to conserve, even if imaginary, the remaining wild PS Chinook. And as this declining trend continues, not only will all rivers be closed, all of PS marine waters will also have to close to prevent incidental "take" of a wild Chinook because as the stocks decline further and approach Stilly status, the allowable take levels are reduced.

This is conservation that doesn't pass the chuckle or red face test. And this is the future of fishing in the PS region, where angling for gamefish or other salmon species is foreclosed to allegedly conserve Chinook, even when it has no measurable effect on the eventual conservation outcome.

Oh, and the icing on the cake was in a memo to staff from WDFW Director Susewind last week announcing that because of agency budget woes, the "new" Skagit steelhead CNR season will be discontinued in 2020 due to the costs of ESA required monitoring.

Susewind is excited about all the things WDFW does for WA citizens. I want to make closing the state to recreational fishing more exciting than he can stand.