I wrote to everyone I could a while back and just received this in my email this morning. This is from State Rep Ruth Kagi. She makes no bones about who's shoulder's this is to fall on ultimately. Please note the Feb 5th date!!!!

Dear ,

Thank you for your email. I appreciate you taking the time to contact me.

As you may know, The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has determined that, in the 2004 and 2005 Columbia River spring Chinook fisheries, sport anglers should be granted 60 percent of the allowable impacts to wild fish, and commercial fishers should get 40 percent, with in-season flexibility of up to 5 percent.

The commission delegated authority to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Jeff Koenings to work with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on a joint agreement between the states. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission recently ruled that sport fishers should have 50-to-60 percent of the allowable impacts to wild fish, and commercial fishers 40-to-50 percent.

The final allocation decision will be announced in a Feb. 5 meeting of Washington and Oregon fish managers, known as the Columbia River Compact, after the directors from both agencies have reached an allocation agreement.


I understand that this isn't the 70% you would like to see, but it is better than the 45-50% proposed earlier.

Biologists expect 360,700 upriver-origin spring Chinook, including both hatchery and wild fish, to enter the Columbia River this year. This year's run is expected to be the second-largest on record since construction of Bonneville Dam in the late 1930s. Another 26,900 fish are predicted to return to the Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis rivers.

Please feel free to contact me with any additional comments or concerns. I value the input I receive and hope that you will continue to share your thoughts with me.

Best Regards,

Ruth