I am really surprised that our board has not yet fully discussed ALL THE OPTIONS that we have available at our hands to address our continued declines of both wild fish, and our opportunity to continue to have HARVEST. I know that there are the usual critics lurking around out there that are just waiting to attack any new ideas, so here is your golden chance!

I have dropped this idea onto this board before, but it has only fallen upon deaf hears, or people were just afraid to debate this idea on this board. The Idea is so simple, that it begs for the opportunity to be fully debated at this forum. It will certainly not be the total answer or cure to all of our problems, but it could be the key that leads to the resolving of our problems. Why not use our current "laws" to help make the much needed and overdue change concerning the miss management of our commercial salmon harvest and the overlapping effects that its management has to our sport fishing and the natural production of our native fish?

We did it with steelhead decades ago, and we can do it again with salmon in the same way! Why not pass and initiative or referendum to declare "salmon" a "sport fish"? It worked to stop the commercial take of our steelhead (for the most part), and there are no obvious reasons why it shouldn't work the same way on salmon too. It would promote the cutting back on some hatcheries in rivers that are only being managed and used to support the needs of the commercials, and at the same time, it would allow the opportunity for both native or natural stocks of salmon and steelhead to once again reproduce naturally in river systems that are now only being managed solely for the propose of commercial salmon harvest supplementation.

The current laws do not allow the commercials to take their catch by sport fishing methods, so how could they possibly continue to harvest salmon under the current food fish laws, if salmon were no longer legally consider to a food fish, and were declared to be a "sport fish", how could they harvest them? All of the management strategies for food fish would no longer apply, and the management strategies for sport fishing and harvest would then apply to salmon! In most places that do not have mitigation requirements, self sustaining runs would determine what the harvest rates could be. In area such as the Cowlitz and Lewis, were natural production is totally affected by the dams, hatcheries would continue to be the source for harvest.

The reclassifying of salmon from a "food fish" to a "sport fish" could start a legal shock wave that could just possibly resolve the age old commercial food fish priority that miss managed our fishery for decades! This idea would not by any means be the "complete answer" to our problems, but it certainly could be a legal starting point to the "end game". There are even existing laws that could further support this proposed change that would also work in the sport fisher favor. They are:


1) RCW 77.50.110
Commercial salmon fishing -- Unauthorized gear. The commission [shall not] authorize angling gear or other personal use gear for commercial salmon fishing."

2) RCW 77.50.070
Limitation on salmon fishing gear in Pacific Ocean.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the commission [shall not] authorize gear other than troll gear or angling gear for taking salmon within the offshore waters or the waters of the Pacific Ocean over which the state has jurisdiction lying west of the following line: Commencing at the point of intersection of the international boundary line in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and a line drawn between the lighthouse on Tatoosh Island in Clallam County and Bonilla Point on Vancouver Island; thence southerly to the lighthouse on Tatoosh Island; thence southerly to the most westerly point of Cape Flattery; thence southerly along the state shoreline of the Pacific Ocean, crossing any river mouths at their most westerly points of land, to Point Brown at the entrance to Grays Harbor; thence southerly to Point Chehalis Light on Point Chehalis; thence southerly from Point Chehalis along the state shoreline of the Pacific Ocean to the Cape Shoalwater tower at the entrance to Willapa Bay; thence southerly to Leadbetter Point; thence southerly along the state shoreline of the Pacific Ocean to the inshore end of the North jetty at the entrance to the Columbia River; thence southerly to the knuckle of the South jetty at the entrance to said river.

(2) The commission may authorize the use of nets for taking salmon in the waters described in subsection (1) of this section for scientific investigations.

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So why not use there own laws against them?

If we could change the definition of how a salmon is viewed legally, we could have a good chance to beat the commercials at their own game! How could the commercial discredit this action? Are they going to say that "salmon" are NOT a high priority to sport fishing? Are they going to try to argue the difference in the economics value of how much a sport caught salmon is worth compared to a commercially caught salmon? Are they going to argue about how many people "hold" special commercial licenses (which can be sold for huge profits) compared to the number of "sport fishing" licenses that are not even refundable? How could they defend salmon as just a "food fish" in this day and age?

What will their arguments be, other then what the current law allows them to argue under the laws that apply to "food fish"?

What can you see that is wrong with this simple idea? Can you add any improvements to this idea?

Would you support some kind of legal proposal to change and reclassifying salmon to become a "sport fish" instead of a food fish?

If not, why?


Cowlitzfisherman