Draft email to Losse, Director, and Governor... any thoughts? I know it's too long, but that's just because I wrote it....


Mr. Losse:

I am writing to express concern with your office’s decision to close the vast majority of the coastal rivers and Chehalis tributaries to all fishing as of October 8, 2022. To be very clear, I am a conservation-minded individual, and I am supportive of in-season changes that genuinely seek to protect fish that are at risk. My issues with your decision are as follows:

· You allow fishing to continue, as planned, in the mainstem Chehalis tidewater and Grays Harbor, which flies in the face of your stated objective to (paraphrasing) “ensure enough fish are able to spawn successfully.” If there are enough fish to keep the tidewater fishing open, there are enough to keep the tributaries open.

· Your decision to close the tributaries while leaving the mainstem open allows people who can afford power boats to keep fishing, while putting most bank anglers, most of whom are only bank anglers because they cannot afford boats, on the couch. All anglers pay the same for their fishing license. Regardless of motivation, that is discriminatory policy, which means it’s also bad policy.

Anyone who has fished the Chehalis drainage for any length of time (22 years for me) understands that when the fish aren’t moving into the tributaries this time of year, they are mostly holding in the tidewater and bay, waiting for rain, cooler temperatures, or whatever it is that tells them it's time to move. While they cycle in and out of the lower river (which we’ll call the mainstem water below the mouth of the Satsop River), they are subjected to constant fishing pressure and predation, whether it’s from a large contingent of sport anglers in boats, the tribal and non-tribal gillnets fishing the river 4 days (or sometimes more) each week, or predatory pinnipeds. Without question, this is the most perilous 10 or so miles of water Grays Harbor salmon encounter along their journey to the spawning gravel or hatcheries.

In a typical year, fish start moving into the tributaries by the end of September, so the “waiting” period is limited to a period of 2-3 weeks, effectively limiting the impact of the fisheries to a reasonable level. This year is clearly not typical, however, with flows well below normal and temperatures well above, and the current forecast suggests it may be November before we see changes sufficient to move fish. If that’s what plays out, it will mean the early run will have been essentially trapped in a relentless kill zone for no less than 6 weeks. That simply cannot be conducive to successful spawning, and it will almost certainly eat up the entire recreational harvest quota before the majority of stakeholders in the fishery (the average Joes and Joans who don’t own power boats) ever get a chance to wet a line. If that sounds like discriminatory policy, well, it probably is. That is why I have CCed the Governor’s office and the WDFW Director on this communication; I feel they should be aware that this sort of policy, while it’s been the most used tool in the WDFW in-season adjustment toolbox, disproportionately affects people of lesser economic means. I may be a privileged white, but many of my bank fishing cohorts are people of color, and one thing we all have in common is that we can’t afford boats.

That all explains why anglers displaced by this decision are not satisfied with your explanation that our water is closed to “protect spawning fish,” which brings me to another reason I saw fit to share this with your superiors. This is but the latest on an ever-growing list of half-truths and even outright lies your sport angler contingent has been fed by the Department in recent years, often in attempts to justify the unjustifiable. Based on what I hear from other anglers (even some among those who can still fish now), what we want most from our representation at WDFW (and particularly the Region 6 office) is honesty and forthright communication. It’s clear to anyone familiar with Grays Harbor fisheries this closure was not implemented to protect spawning fish. As citizens and paying stakeholders, we deserve (indeed, we are entitled!) to know the truth, even if it is as simple as the fact that your staff classifies bank anglers as a bunch of lowlife snaggers, unworthy of equal opportunity and government representation, so you decided to allocate our quota to the big boat crowd and gillnets. With that, Sir, on behalf of a shrinking but critical mass of your license-buying customers, I ask you for the (whole) truth about why I can’t fish right now, but my friends with boats can.

I am absolutely NOT asking that you close the tidewater fishery, unless, of course, that becomes legitimately necessary to protect fish. That is, after all, the only thing left, for anyone. I AM suggesting that, if it’s still safe to be fishing the lower river and bay, it’s still safe to be fishing the tributaries, even if it’s not likely to be very productive. Opening the tributaries would spread out pressure, and any day now, the switch will flip, and the fish will start moving. They always do. In the meantime, please carefully consider whom these decisions impact the most when you propose in-season rule changes. Those lowest on the totem pole are getting extremely tired of having our opportunity be first on the chopping block every time your staff decides any action is necessary.

One final point: When field observations lead to closures, which is what I understand happened here, WDFW staff frequently make mention of people “snagging” fish in places where they are holding up. Snagging is despicable, unethical, potentially harmful, and just plain bad in general. Any angler who tries to catch fish legitimately hates fishing around people who are snagging. That said, it is not our place to correct their behavior, and if it is such a pervasive issue and is leading your staff to think we should close fisheries, why aren’t you citing people when you observe them snagging? That might actually make a difference! Instead, you always seem more inclined to generalize us all as snaggers and close our entire fishery. That may be convenient in helping you achieve objectives, but it’s lazy, disingenuous, does nothing to discourage the bad behavior, and quite frankly, it wrongfully punishes law-abiding citizens. If snagging is the problem your staff say it is, do your job and enforce your regulations. If you don’t have enough enforcement staff to do that effectively (and I suspect you don’t; the hard-working wardens I know are stretched far too thin to effectively enforce anything), perhaps the people CCed on this message can help with that….

Thanks for your service and consideration. Here’s hoping we get to a better place, where all these constant twists and gyrations aren’t necessary to decide who can fish when. Until then, delivering the straight truth when you make a decision to close a popular fishery many of us look forward to all year would be a huge step forward that would be much appreciated.

Respectfully,

(name)

Disenfranchised Angler