Smalma ... I don't have the magic answer, but obviously netiher does the WDFW when 90% of the streams have suffered crashes in the last twenty years.

Lots of reasons sure ... but why do we continue to esentially manage the few remaining "healthy" streams in the exact manner that we used in all the other streams that are now in such poor shape?? The track record sucks, I know that isn't what you like to hear, but it's sad, but true fact.

C&R is not the only answer, but it IS the one thing anglers can do TODAY to immediately lessen our impact.

Everything in this state's management policies has focused on harvest opportunities before angling opportunites ... it's time for that to change.

All the formulas, research, and studies don't mean a thing if the fish stocks decline. It's the end result, not how we get there!


IMO, I don't hink we can manage steelhead with the MSY model like we can do salmon ... fankly, I think the life history of the steelhead creates problems. Where does the MSY model take into account the increased fecundicity of repeat spawners and the impact of their removal from the system??

Sure there are areas where C&R regs have not led to increases, but there are plenty of others where they have certainly played a role!

Frankly, it often seems that there appears to be some point in stock makeup / numbers that appear to be a point of no return and the state always seems to allow the stocks to recede below this point before doing something to reduce harvest!

I also believe that too much blame is placed upon oceanic conditions on whole ... if the ocean conditions were such a factor, why aren't the results widespread??

Case in point, recent poor PS returns are blamed on ocean survival, yet the state then reports that the Quillayute system has record returns, yet the Queets just a little further south was facing the lowest returns on record. At the same time, Vancouver Island streams were struggling ... yet Skeena watershed streams saw huge returns. Southern Orgeon streams saw large increases ... where's the widespread effect that you would expect here???

Piont is, there's lots I don't know, you don't know, no one will likely ever know about these fish ... yet we continue to harvest them while we watch stream after stream's populations crash. I'm simply asking that we act conservatively in their management, and the first step there is no harvesting them ... the second being quitting all fishing.

I hope that we only have to take one of those steps to help insure their survival!