Originally Posted By: Rivrguy

And this and this should not surprise anyone, well anyone who understands the system.

Hi Everyone,

I want to bring you up to speed on the coho situation in Grays Harbor. We were called this morning by Quinault Indian Tribe with concerns about hooking mortality of coho in our steelhead and gamefish seasons that are still open in the Chehalis and Humptulips basins, and the conservation need for wild coho. After a long and difficult day of coordinating with the Director, acting AD Norman, and soon to be AD Warren, and 2 conference calls with QIN, we decided to close the steelhead and gamefish seasons in the harbor and tributaries to ensure continued support for conservation actions. We have relayed to QIN by voicemail this afternoon that: 1) we will be closing the gamefish fisheries, 2) that we will be hard pressed to keep hatchery coho closed in rivers with hatchery production once egg take is met, and 3) we want to continue to have a conversation about when is an appropriate time to open winter steelhead fisheries while minimizing coho impacts.

You should expect the closure to take place at 12:01 am on Friday.

I’m sorry to be the one bringing more bad news. As always, please give me a call if you have any questions or just need to yell at someone.

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


In the spirit of conservation, I assume the QIN will not open their directed Steelhead fishery since Coho bycatch exceeds their Steelhead catch?
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