Originally Posted By: Todd
Originally Posted By: Tom Joad
Regardless of the issue having a divided sportsman camp is bad in the long term . If you look at hunting as an example the archery guys would not accept the cross bow hunters and lost opportunity consistently across he US to the rifle hunters. The division between the fly, gear and wild fish camps only benefits the tribes and commercials in the long term. The public in General will side with the wild fish just based on emotional appeal. We need to find a way to live in one big tent to effectively hold our ground against the other side.


I agree with that, and I think that all sportfishermen should agree that if we are going to have hatchery programs that they should be in full compliance with the ESA.

Besides being the legal and ethical thing to do, it also would insulate the hatchery programs from challenges by those who would seek to eradicate them...and if they are in compliance with the ESA then there would be no real reason to even want to get rid of them.

Asking WDFW, NOAA-F, the tribes, or the WFC to just ignore the fact that there are no permits for the operation of the programs right now is just asking for anyone to challenge them.

Fish on...

Todd


A lack of NEPA documentation through EAs or EISs does not put programs in violation of the ESA. WDFW has to actually be in violation of the ESA in order for them to violate ESA regulation. Can you suggest a way that their programs are in violation? Most people cannot. As mentioned several times before, WDFW did everything necessary required by the federal government. They follow their HGMPs per HSRG recommendations and guidelines and in most cases, the early steelhead programs show surprisingly low rates of introgression. In some systems, their is hardly any indication of introgression, exceeding PNI guidelines for listed stocks several-fold.

Why then is WDFW running scared? They simply didn't want to enter into litigation, although this is presently not an option for them at this point. Their initial thoughts were to payoff WFC and lose the million or so dollars invested in the Chambers steelhead to avoid going to court. As of right now, they've done both but will still go to court unless they settle by paying a inordinate amount of money for WFC lawyers.