It's about F'ing time!!!!!!!!!!!
Roast em Pearson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GIVE US FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Senate Hearing Will Probe Half-Million Missing Fish From Cowlitz River
Fishing for Answers: Sen. Kirk Pearson Anxious to Grill WDFW Leadership in Meeting Today in Olympia


Posted: Thursday, February 2, 2017 11:14 am
By Jordan Nailon / jnailon@chronline.com
It turns out that when a government agency loses more than half a million fish, people are bound to notice.
The fish in question, as was first reported in The Chronicle on Jan. 20, went missing from the Cowlitz Trout hatchery late last spring and early summer. That report sent shock waves through the region, and the most recent party to take notice and demand answers is none other than the Washington State Senate.
“When I read your story I was incensed. I didn’t know if it was true or not, and then reading what they said, I thought it was total mismanagement,” said Sen. Kirk Pearson, chairman of the Natural Resources and Parks Committee. “They didn’t even say ‘I’m sorry. I screwed up.’ I’m pretty passionate about things like that.”
On Thursday the Senate’s Natural Resources and Parks Committee will hold a hearing, set for 1:30 p.m. in Senate Hearing Room 3 at the Capitol Campus, in order to probe officials from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for answers as to how so many fish can go missing and why it took so long for the rampant rumors of the loss to be confirmed to the public.
The hearing was arranged by Pearson, a Republican from Monroe. Both WDFW director Jim Unsworth and WDFW deputy assistant director Kelly Cunningham are expected to attend the meeting in order to field questions from the committee.
“I believe, especially with the department pushing increased fees in hunting and fishing licenses this year and yet we have fewer hunting and fishing opportunities, they need to come and explain to us how in the world do you lose a half million fish,” said Pearson. “I believe the director will be in front of my committee explaining and I have a lot of questions. We have some management problems at the (Fish and Wildlife) department.”
The loss of those summer steelhead and cutthroat trout smolt represents about 70 percent of the summer stock that was supposed to be released last year. The loss will likely hit the popular Cowlitz River steelhead fishery hard beginning in 2018 when the first big run of those steelhead would have begun to make their return from the ocean to the river as adult fish. The cutthroat trout that were lost would have begun returning this summer.
Pearson noted that fisheries in his district have also been negatively impacted by actions taken both by, and against, the WDFW in recent years so he is particularly sensitive to the economic, recreational and ecological impact of the the lost fish.
“When I see this on the Cowlitz I’m going, ‘Good lord!’ This is serious. It seems like I didn’t see the level of urgency I would expect. It just sounds like they are kind of whining,” said Pearson. “I want to make sure my kids and grandkids, and everybody’s kids and grandkids, have the chance to fish in the future.”
Pearson noted that he has wide-ranging concerns that were brought to the surface by comments made by WDFW policy coordinator for the Columbia River, Cindy Le Fleur, in the original story.
In a “fact sheet” drafted by Le Fleur, no definitive cause was pinpointed. Instead the blame was spread around to a number of theories including bird predation, disease, miscounting and premature escape from lake net pens. In one instance Le Fleur, who noted that the counting equipment is essential for managing the lake-reared trout populations, said that she does not believe the equipment used by the WDFW on the Cowlitz River is accurate.
“I don’t think it’s reliable, like if two fish go through at the same time. The counting equipment just isn’t perfect,” said Le Fleur, who noted that lake debris such as sticks and grass sometimes wind up being incorrectly counted as fish.
Le Fleur admitted that she was not sure of the vintage or origin of the counting equipment used by the WDFW, or if it is the most accurate option available on the market.
That statement in particular caught Pearson’s attention.
“It makes me wonder if all the counting equipment that the Fish and Wildlife uses is inadequate,” said Pearson.
According to Pearson, the issues at hand go beyond the interests of anglers or fish lovers. He sees a need for accountability from government officials, especially those using public funds to manage public resources. He wonders why it took so long for the WDFW to acknowledge the loss of half a million smolt, even amid direct speculation.
“The department has a lot of explaining to do and they need to take their job a little more seriously,” said Pearson. “People want transparency in government and how can you be transparent when you are pulling garbage like this.”
The senate committee hearing will be streamed live online at TVW.org.