Ed,

The bogus clowns you refer to are the WDFW fish managers at the Mill Creek office. I don't have the number handy, but you can look it up. Ask for Curt Kreamer; I think the Sky is still his territory.

The current policy is dictated by the Department's Wild Salmonid Policy which says there shall be no targeted fishery for a run that is forecast to bess less than 80% of its spawning escapement goal. The C&R fishery in March and April clearly targets the native steelhead run. The run size forecast last year and again this year is for a number that is less than 80% of the escapement goal.

You can disagree with the policy and try to change it. However, a line has to be drawn somewhere to conserve weak runs. No one I've discussed this with has suggested that 80% is the wrong place to draw that line. Can you suggest a better point?

Competence. Well, compared to what? Does closing a fishery for conservation imply incompetence? Incompetence and or policy intervention is what allowed fisheries to be open in the past when conservation was actually called for. As Silver Hilton's post indicates, science suggests caution in the face of uncertainty. But policy (or incompetence) has subordinated conservation in favor of harvest for far too long in almost all fisheries - worldwide.

Managing a salmon or steelhead fishery is like driving a car forward on the freeway using only your rear view mirror as your guide. The forecast for this year's run is based on the number of spawners from 4 and 5 years ago plus the average % of repeat spawners. So fish management goes forward with information only from the past, and none from the present. Information can be added after the fact. Harvest information from the treaty fishery is obtained after the fish are already caught. Recreational harvests (in a normal year that permits wild steelhead retention) are estimated based on performance in past years. And then the spawning escapement for this brood cycle is estimated by counting spawning redds in surveys that occur after the fish have already spawned. The only way to increase fishery management precision is to have the fishery occur after the fish have passed some sort of counting station, such as the Ballard Locks, Bonneville Dam, or certain test fishery areas with high correlation coefficients. The upshot is that no one knows with certainty how many fish will return. Given these facts, what action do you recommend?

BW, spawning surveys are influenced by water conditions, but there are methods to deal with that - unless a river is out during most of the spawning season. Again, science would suggest that the greater the uncertainty, the more caution in favor of conservation should be exercised. Also, I don't think a special license for C&R fishery participation would in any way result in improved fish runs. Putting some effort into angler education would probably pay the greatest dividends in the long run.

JR, if there is no C&R season, fishing will probably close at the end of February as few hatchery winter steelhead return after that date.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.