I realize the following is a re-post from an older thread, but I thought I'd share it here again since it was my parting shot to Region 6 this evening.

As I come closer and closer to the realization that WDFW is hamstrung in its ability to get a handle on the run in-season, it seems the paper fish are all we have left as we fish thru the season.

Don't get me wrong here... I'm not condoning management based purely on a paper forecast of fish that may or may not come. I firmly believe that in-season management holding wild escapement as its primary objective (and sole barometer of success/failure) is THE WAY to go. But given the logistical and fiscal constraints WDFW currently faces, it ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

When I start thinking about a commitment to in-season management, I think of Alaska... where intense monitoring of the run-size occurs every season. If the run unfolds as expected, the baseline fishing regs are allowed to play out unchanged. If the run is tracking significantly bigger than expected, emergency orders are issued to liberalize the regs in-season. If the run-size fails to materialize as expected, the baseline regs are restricted in step-down fashion to reduce exploitation.

WDFW says we can't have that. So be it. Who are we to expect anything so elegant in its execution? But should we be content to limp along with a system that obviously does NOT work? I think we deserve better... and so do the fish.

I propose a compromise position that at its very heart is still not truly in-season management, but at least gets us a step closer.

WDFW worships at the alter of paper fish. A preseason forecast of paper fish, a preseason harvest model to predict the number of paper fish that will die in each of the fishery components, and finally crafting a season that predicts the total number of dead paper fish the fleets will harvest or kill as incidentals basin-wide.

But we all know the number of real-live free-swimming fish that actually die often has ZERO correlation to the dead fish on paper. As it stands now there is ZERO accountability. If there are concerns about catching too many real fish... too bad, we live and die by the run-size and harvest predictions on paper fish, and the season continues full steam ahead. If there are concerns that the real fish aren't showing as expected on paper... DITTO... full steam ahead.

If paper fish are going to be used to determine when a fishery is going to open and operate, that same standard ought to be used to determine when it will close. This is NOT in-season management, folks.... it's simply in-season accountability..... simply a commitment to live and die by the forecast numbers they hold so dear... accountability... teeth. That's all I'm looking for.

No doubt, what I am proposing here is a mighty sword that doth cut both ways.

If the fish materialize in greater numbers than expected, the fishing success will reflect that, and fish boxes will fill to overflowing. The expected paper harvest will be fulfilled more quickly than expected, and yes, the fishing will be shut down by emergency order. It might even mean that we let a "harvestable surplus" swim right on by. Bitter pill to swallow? Too f'n bad. So what.... a few hundred or a few thousand extra fish go up to seed the gravel. Isn't that a problem we'd like to have instead of the reprehensible chronic UNDER-escapement we've seen over the years..... and the utter collapse of wild run after wild run, river by river, statewide?

Think about it. It's not like there's a river anywhere in the basin that's in danger of collapse from chronic over-escapement.

The only way we are going to work our way out of this mess is to get some wild fish back to the gravel. It will take a paradigm shift from crafting seasons that optimize harvest to ones that optimize escapements. If that means cutting a season short to do it, it's a sacrifice we should ALL be willing to make.... on both sides! If it means we exceed the escapement goal and a few more fish hit the gravel every 3rd or 4th run... what's the danger in that?

As it stands now, the record is replete with examples of chronic under-escapement to the entire basin and/or its component tribs.

In the beginning, what I am proposing may well be painful. But over the long haul, healthier wild runs will mean more liberal seasons for all of us.
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"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)

"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)


The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!