Originally Posted By: eyeFISH
Originally Posted By: FleaFlickr02
It seems very likely that, between WDFW's welfare fishery and the QIN's perennial slaughter, coho will miss escapement again this year. That would make 2 years in a row, leaving only one strike for the next three years before the GHMP penalty box comes into play, prolonging our inability to harvest wild coho for several more years.


We are effectively in "penalty box" mode due to the poor run-size forecast ... max 5% impact cap for 2016.

The same WILL happen again in 2017 when coho are a repeat NO SHOW (yes, even worse than this year!) and we again manage for a 5% impact cap on a runsize that will NOT make e-goal.

At that point, we will have missed e-goal for 15, 16, and 17. That's when the REAL penalty box kicks in. Policy would then prohibit wild coho-directed fisheries for 18 and 19. If all goes well for ocean conditions beyond 2017, the earliest we would get to fish for wild Chehalis-origin coho would be 2020. That's only IF the ocean turns the corner in 2017. Wouldn't hold my breath for that just yet.

Sorry to be the bearer of BAD news.


Better put. Thank you... and damn you for confirming my fears!

This is really bad, but if sport fishing is as severely limited as it promises to be over the next few years, the golden goose (us) will eventually cease to lay. I strongly suspect that tightening up the purse strings will heighten WDFW's sense of priority regarding recreational fishing. That's when things will change, if there are still any fish left to fight over.