12. Grays Harbor Salmon Management – Briefing & Public Hearing
Department staff will brief the Commission on Grays Harbor salmon fishery management and challenges, followed by a panel discussion on Grays Harbor salmon issues. Staff is seeking direction from the Commission on Grays Harbor Salmon Management Policy sideboards.

Staff Report: Ron Warren, Region 6 Fish Program Manager

PUBLIC INPUT (This item only)

Sat Nov 9... first agenda item of business at 9 am. Will start sooner depending on how much new (non-GH) open public input happens at 8:30.

If only one or two folks testify at 8:30 for general public input, they move immediately to the GH discussion with its own block of dedicated public input time.

I believe this is a VERY important public meeting. Be there if you care.

Commission needs to hear from Joe Q Public that :

1) Sportfishing is BIG business in WA state. Rec fishing in GH is important to the economic base of the region and a rec priority (esp at smaller run sizes) is the way to gain maximum socio-economic benefit for the citizens of WA from a limited natural resource.

2) Indiscriminate gillnetting puts a stranglehold on our ability to meet the basin's conservation objectives, esp for chronically under-escaped Chehalis River fall chinook. If an economically viable commercial fishery is to exist at all in this basin, selective LIVE-CAPTURE techniques are the key to ensuring that conservation objectives for non-target stocks will be met. It's long past time to abandon archaic commercial gear-type intended to mortally snare/entangle a largely lifeless catch in favor of fishing gear meant to corral/contain a LIVE free-swimming catch in a viable and vigorous condition. The commission must LEAD the agency in making this transition as expeditiously as humanly possible.

3) The commission must demand intellectual honesty and accountability in the run-size and harvest models. Far too often, the preseason run-size comes up short of the model's prediction. Moreover, the fishing power of the fleet is horribly and predictably understated by the preseason harvest model. It's no wonder the post-season bottom line shows a chronic and recurring deficit of fish on the gravel. The run-size forecast MUST be buffered to account for the historic uncertainty in the agency's inability to accurately predict how many fish will show. Similarly, the harvest model MUST be adjusted to reflect the true real-time fishing power of the modern-day fleet.