Originally Posted By: banki
I feel it is kind of odd that the Chehalis most years is labled as having surplus wild coho to harvest yet out of the last 11 years the Satsop and the Wynoochee have only made escapement twice for wild coho.
I addressed the very same issue at the Monte meeting. I was somewhat perplexed by the Montesano Math, but closer inspection showed exactly what you say, and it all adds up.

Basically the upriver tribs are all exceeding goal by large margins while the lower tribs are falling short. Add it all together and the aggregate looks great.

There are a number of ways to address these lower trib shortfalls, and believe me, NONE of them will be popular. Bottom line is we need to stop killing so many wild coho bound for these tribs. That means either reducing limits, reducing time, and/or reducing area where these wild coho are being killed. 2009 may well give us a reprieve from having to make these tough choices as there are LOTS of wild coho in the forecast for THIS year. We may not be so lucky in subsequent years... that's almost certain.

So start thinking about creative ways on the non-treaty side to get those fish to the gravel and relay those ideas to the members of the committee.
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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!