What we have below is a e mail regarding the NT Gillnetters Commercial seasons this fall. To boil it down to its simplest terms WDF&W proposed to put the NT commercials in on Sunday which effectively wipes out the handicapped access in the Lakeside reach above the 101 bridge and the Mom & Pop troll fishery at the Port of GH. Oh but we have another option, just dump the Grays Harbor Management Policy ( GHMP ) 4/3. 4/3 is the provision that requires 3 consecutive days in a calendar week be net free. It takes a three day window to pass fish ABOVE the QIN nets. Do one or two days or not 3 consecutive days the fish do not clear the QIN fishers below South Monte but rather simply get caught below South Monte vs being caught in down town Aberdeen. How about another thought, do not put NT Nets in on Sunday or at least as I suggested to staff keep the nets out until 1:00 PM so working folks can fish on their day off!

Additionally I will point out if not for the 4/3 provision last year we would have devastated the Chinook run as it came in early and short ( and did not make escapement again ) which was not detected until after harvest. 4/3 is our and the fishes safety net and the balancer between inriver & marine fisheries.

In the past ( prior to the use of lap top computer modeling ) staff utilized escapement plus 10% to create a pad for escapement. In recent years with computer modeling we do it down to the last " paper fish " and frankly this has resulted in our failure to make Chinook escapement and devastated the week upriver Chum returns. The reason and the only reason we fail to make Chinook escapement and upper Chehalis Basin Chum struggle is overharvest.

So off we go ............... again. In my personal opinion this is about the rudest method of operation I have seen in years. Well maybe not the full court press in San Francisco at PFMC out of the public eyes to invalidate the Willapa Policy pretty much is the top vote getter I guess. Think of it this way. One day before a discussion at the Commission level Region 6 sends out the heads up e mail on something as important as handicapped access and the 4/3 provision. One day, no press release, no nothing. These guys give the word rude a bad name.

More to come for sure and as soon as we find anything out I will let all know but this constant assault on the GHMP by staff behind closed doors without notifying the citizens in our community needs to stop. They might try looking up the definition of the word rude as it certainly describes staff conduct on this issue.

RUDE: offensively impolite or ill-mannered.



FROM STEVE THEISFELD:

Hi Advisors,
I want to alert you to a discussion we will be having with the Fish and Wildlife Commission’s - Fish Committee tomorrow. As you are aware, there were 3 Sunday fisheries proposed in areas 2A-D. We heard concern expressed by the recreational sector about those days and moving the start time back. While that is an option, another option is to move a couple of those days to Thursday. So we are going to have a discussion with the Fish Committee tomorrow about whether moving October 11 to October 15, and October 18 to October 22 makes sense or not. If the days are moved, there would still be 3 consecutive days between fisheries, but they would not be 3 consecutive days in the calendar week. I’m not sure whether the Fish Committee will be supportive or not. If they are, the issue would be brought up to the entire Commission on Friday or Saturday. I don’t know the specific mechanism, it could be a briefing by the Director or the Fish Committee chair. If folks want to weigh in on the issue, the Open Public Comment period would be a great opportunity to provide some thoughts. I will send out an email after the Fish Committee meeting tomorrow evening to let you know if the issue will be moved forward for additional discussion or not.
I’ll send an email to interested parties in a few minutes, but thought I would let you guys know first.

Steve Thiesfeld
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Region 6 Fish Program Manager
48 Devonshire Road, Montesano, WA 98563
Steven.Thiesfeld@dfw.wa.gov
360-249-1201