Look what I missed by going fishing today. Eight pages of comment on Friday's decision by the commission to halt the kill of wild steelhead for 2 years. In my opinion, AND I WAS THERE, a truly great decision was passed after careful consideration and discussion.
The original motion was made by commissioner VanGytenbeek who observed that (close quote) "of the 16 rivers that the department said could sustain a 5 fish wild harvest 2 years ago, there are only 11 left today." He said that present regulations were obviously not working. His motion failed on a 4-4 vote. Commissioner Pelly offered a moratorium compromise which passed on a 5-3 vote.
Contrary to Mr. Bruce Pearson's repeated assertions, commissioner Shiosaki (T.U., fly fisherman, etc.) voted against both motions, asking for maximum harvest in both cases.
It bothers me that Mr. Pearson and others continue to assert that the commission action somehow subverted public process when, in fact, about 83 citizen proposals to stop the kill of wild steelhead statewide - in the last major regulation cycle - were ignored by WDF&W.
Mr. Pearson and others continue to dilute the issue by raising the issue of Native American treaty rights and commercial gillnetting which, in my opinion , should be a different thread.
Wild Fish Forever.