Policies and Actions of the WSC

To increase fish runs, more wild fish must return to their rivers and spawn. To that end, the WSC promotes year round, catch and release of all wild steelhead in the Pacific Northwest.

The WSC promotes and encourages the development and utilization of fishing practices that result in decreased mortality of wild steelhead and salmon.

Barriers to migration and the degradation and removal of productive habitat have reduced the capacity of rivers to support wild steelhead. In order for fish runs to be restored, the WSC promotes the return of existing damaged habitat to its productive state, and that miles of productive spawning grounds that are no longer accessible to fish be made accessible again.

Hatchery programs must be closely examined and be carried out in such a manner that the negative impacts on wild fish are removed or minimized. The WSC stands for the mass marking of all hatchery steelhead, and for science, not politics, to be the basis for the re-tooling of hatchery practices.

The models and policies that drive fisheries management must significantly change. Maximum Sustained Harvest and Maximum Sustained Yield have failed to protect and perpetuate our wild fish, and in many cases have been the driving force behind their decline. New models that are based on factors other than the greatest possible harvest of wild fish are necessary to return fish runs to safe levels.

In promotion of these goals, the Wild Steelhead Coalition is an organization that provides a voice that unites the public, private, and other interests who desire and depend on wild steelhead. The WSC provides a voice for recreational fishermen, businesses whose livelihoods depend on recreational fishing, recreational fishing clubs and conservation groups, united in common goals, through consultation, association, and collaboration with those clubs and groups.


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Hmmmmm.....

More wild fish hitting the gravel?

Selective fishing that reduces mortality?

Mass marking and removal of hatchery fish and their negative impacts?

That doesn't sound a whole lot different than what the CCA is trying to achieve in the LCR.

Can anyone in the WSC tell me again how that can be "bad" for the fish?

Or are we really just arguing about an allocation grab that the haters perceive to be "bad" for sportfishing?