The Baker Lake sockeye fishery is going to be Agenda item #14 discussion item at the WDFW Commission meeting on Saturday, December 14 at 9 a.m. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn & Suites, 4260 Mitchell Way Bellingham, WA 98226, Room Chuckanut.

Frank Urabeck and others have been trying to work with WDFW staff to get some equity and opportunity for the sport fishing community that has enjoyed the Baker Lake sockeye fishery in years past. The anticipated/requested support has not been forthcoming. Frank has outlined the issues below.

If you live in the area and can attend the meeting you can present your input to the Commission.

Thanks



AGENDA ITEM #14 Baker Lake and Skagit River Sockeye Salmon Review

Key sport fishing groups, including PSA, CCA and the Steelhead Trout Club have worked together since 2014 to address Baker sockeye harvest inequity favoring the Skagit Basin tribes the past six out of seven years. Since a peak run of 53,000 sockeye in 2015 the return to the Skagit River has plummeted to less than half this number to only 22,000 this year. In 2019 the Skagit Basin tribes harvested 8,700 sockeye. Sports anglers harvested 580 in the Skagit River and just 2,800 were released into Baker Lake for recreational fishing – only about 50—60% expected to be harvested. During those seven years nearly 29,000 more sockeye were harvested by the tribes than made available for recreational harvest.

With the crash of the once popular Lake Washington sockeye fishery in 2007, and more recently the disappearance of the Columbia River sockeye fishery out of Brewster, Washington, the Skagit River and Baker Lake recreational sockeye fisheries provide the remaining recreation opportunity in the state for these popular salmon. While only a relatively few sockeye are taken by hook and line from the Skagit River, Baker Lake is where most of the sport fishing takes place. On some peak activity days in 2018 as many as 150 --200 boats ranging from kayaks to 20-foot jet sleds trolled the lake. In 2015 over 19,000 sockeye were put into the lake for sport harvest, compared with 2,800 in 2019 that produced the worst fishery since PSE began releasing sockeye into Baker Lake in 2010. Also, broodstock requirements were barely met.

We were promised by department staff at an October 20, 2018 public workshop on the Baker Lake harvest inequity issue, held in Mill Creek, that harvest inequity would be addressed by the co-managers. This did not happen.

We again are asking that the Commission direct the Department to give Baker sockeye harvest equity a high priority for the 2020 season, engaging the three Skagit Basin tribes on behalf of sport fishing license holders in a transparent manner that allows the public to track the discussions. This should be accomplished before NOF 2020 gets started. Options that should be on the table include (a)use of a pre-season run forecast buffer as has been done on the Columbia River, (b) following year payback via harvest adjustments, and (c) use of professional judgement to adjust the pre-season forecast resulting from the current run forecast model that missed the mark by over 11,000 sockeye in 2019.

An extrapolation of the actual sockeye run estimates from 2015 through 2019 would suggest that the 2020 run will be less than 20,000. Informal guesstimate by department technical staff is a pre-season run forecast for 2020 in the mid-30,000 range. Whenever the actual run is less than the pre-season forecast the tribes wind up with more sockeye.

If Puget Sound marine waters salmon fishing in 2020 is even more restricted than it was this year (2019), then Baker Lake may be one of the few places salmon anglers can troll in 2020. Many sport fishing license holders are giving serious thought to leaving this sport. We must have a reason to continue our license purchases and we will only do that if fishing opportunities are provided. The Baker Lake sockeye fishery is an important component.

It is very important that the public show up at this Commission meeting and engage with the Commission and Department of Fish and Wildlife staff by demanding that harvest equity be achieved in 2020.

If you can’t attend, your comments can be sent to the Wildlife Commission at commission@dfw.wa.gov and should also be cc’d to Director Kelly Susewind, Kelly.Susewind@dfw.wa.gov; Fish Policy Director Ron Warren Ron.Warren@dfw.wa.gov; and Assistant Director for Fisheries Kelly Cunningham Kelly.Cunningham@dfw.wa.gov.