There has been some good information shared in this thread and some even better questions. I would like to offer up my two cents on a couple of the latter and in doing so, hopefully lay to rest any questions about the “true” motivation of the WSC.

Let me start out by saying that the motivation is simple. The WSC is an organization of fishermen and women who are working to increase the runs of wild steelhead in the region’s rivers. Healthy runs equate to fishing opportunity. This is opportunity not just for today but also for the future. And before I get flamed on how the WSC is reducing some people’s opportunity to kill fish, let me state that there is ample opportunity available to kill hatchery fish. That is what they are there for. (More on this later)

It has been asked if the long-term goal is to protect wild fish from harvest forever or “until they can reach self-sustaining levels”. I would first answer by saying that until someone can demonstrate to me what a river’s self-sustaining level is; I would ere on the side of conservation. In a perfect world, both data and management instruments would be available so that a rivers carrying capacity was known and easily monitored. At the current time, such ability is not available. What we have instead is a management tool that places emphasis on maximizing harvest and maintaining a minimum carrying capacity level. Even this might be workable if the predictive confidence intervals were small enough to cover for fluctuations in ocean conditions, repeat spawners, seasonal flow fluctuations, etc. One need only look at the dramatic decrease in “healthy” rivers in the last 5 years to see they are not.

Since we are speaking hypothetically though, would the WSC support harvest of wild fish if a river’s wild fish return had recovered to point it exceeded its carrying capacity? While I suspect recovery to this level to be unlikely anytime soon, should it in fact happen, the WSC would support harvest opportunities.

Statewide catch and release has been the focus for the first year of the WSC because the board determined that before it could address the other issues impacting the health of wild runs, it first had to force movement away from a management strategy which puts a premium on killing them. C & R is not the magic pill to run recovery but it is a way to still allow fishing opportunity while minimizing angler impact. Now that this fight has been fought, and partially won, it is time to move on to addressing the other factors influencing declining runs of wild fish.

Finally, before I get back to my “great paying job” and then head off to my PETA meeting where we plan the downfall of both McDonald’s and the leather shoe industry, let me touch on the issue of hatcheries. As stated above, the WSC is made up of people who fish. In order to do this, we need to have fish in the rivers. In order to have sufficient numbers of fish in the rivers to allow fishing, we currently need hatcheries. No hatcheries, no fishing.

I would love to see wild runs recover to a point where hatcheries were no longer needed. I’m not holding my breath for this to happen though. Until it does, we need to work towards maximizing fishing opportunities while minimizing impacts on wild runs. If the goal is wild recovery to a point hatcheries are not needed, you must logically minimize impacts of the latter on the former. The ways to best minimize these impacts are a hot topic right now. WSC biologists are looking at this as are biologists from WDFW, ODFW, B.C. among others. As is stated in the WSC mission statement, “science not politics”.

In closing, let me say that if you feel there is no difference between wild and hatchery fish and that one is as good as the other, the WSC is not for you. It reminds me of the Doritos’s commercial, eat as many as you want, we will make more. If however, you feel that wild fish are worth saving in this region and you would like your children and grandchildren to have the opportunity to fish for them, the WSC just might be worth your time and money.

Sincerley,

Duggan Harman
WSC Board President