They are watching us...
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By GREG JOHNSTON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

A two-year moratorium on the killing of any wild steelhead in Washington waters, enacted by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission last Friday, has raised a storm of debate among anglers.

The moratorium, passed on a 5-3 vote, requires that anglers release alive any steelhead with an intact adipose fin from April 1 through March 31, 2006. The adipose fins of hatchery-reared steelhead are clipped before release.

Anglers are already required to release wild steelhead in most Washington rivers, but are allowed to kill one per day on a handful of north coastal rivers where state biologist say wild stocks are healthy and abundant.

Despite those claims, many anglers have been clamoring for the past few years for a statewide ban on the retention of wild steelhead, arguing that the state's record of protecting wild runs is pitiful and that with increasing angling pressure, the few remaining robust runs could be over-fished. Other anglers argue, however, that state surveys show north coastal runs are abundant well beyond spawning needs and that if anglers quit taking the fish, treaty tribal net fishermen will seek to catch them.

"There's a lot of anger on the river,' said Tom Mathews, state catch sampler on the Quillayute River system. "People are very angry and talking about lawsuits."

The vote, which was not on the commission agenda and came as a surprise to many, is sparking debate not only on the river but also on local Internet fishing forums.

"It's really divisive, and if we want to save these fish, steelheaders should be pulling together," said Curt Kraemer, Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist for north Puget Sound rivers.