We should be very concerned about this as we were the ones that brought this to the author of the article. PSA is at the table with NOAA where they are driving the recovery of ESA listed Rockfish. Bocaccio, Yelloweye, and Canary rockfish were listed and slated for recovery. We have another meeting with them at Sandpoint at the NOAA facility today. This is a work in progress

First there is no good data of how many rockfish were ever in the sound and most info is extrapolated using ocean data and some BC data. It is data poor. So it has to be built.

The Puget Sound is mostly mud with rocky structure and vertical reliefs (steep banks) is where these fish normally live. So not so great for rockfish. The San Juans has the best aggregate and structure as well as the steep banks of Hood Canal.

Nothing is in stone right now as we are awaiting the recommendations of the Rockfish recovery team. We we will then bring this out and have to flood them with our opinions. The fish descender device is where we need to go to keep fishing. It is probably time to put it into law. They are advocating that the biggest impact to Puget Sound Rockfish will be salmon fishers.

Our strategy is to keep our fisheries open and that is why we have been doing the fish descender talks and giving them away. We are prepared to change the law to make it mandatory to have one on your boat to fish, if need be so we do not close any more fisheries. Salmon fishers are being targeted as the biggest impact to the ESA rockfish.

What has been advocated is that they are breaking the Puget Sound into 5 regions. Hood Canal, South Sound, Central Sound, San Juans and Eastern Strait.
All east of the Victoria Sill or Port Angeles. The chart in that link shows the critical habitat for rockfish.

So they are saying they could take up to 20-30% in each of those areas marked on that chart in each of those five regions. We have told them that where there is structure for rockfish, there will be Chinook and it will be someones fishing spot. This will not go down easy.

In the test fisheries, rockfish have been normally down in the 220' and deeper range and not up high, such as 120'. But when they take and close an area down to fishing, it will not only be in the deep but they will take it all of the way up into the shoreline for the juvenile rockfish.

We are trying to make sure that they do not do closures. I am trying to get the tribes to say they will not honor them. Just want to make sure we are not the only ones that are excluded. some of the tribes I have talked to are against them.