With the Quillayute system closed it has spawned several interesting threads and as I read them something just felt wrong…I felt like I was somehow to blame for the situation.

Many of the comments in these posts refer to the sportsman needing to come together to fight for our seasons and opportunities…that we only care about our next fishing trip…but I don’t agree with that. I think most of us realize fishing as a declining resource/activity and there are systems we can not fish anymore because of it. We have accepted that….so what seasons and areas that are still open are EVEN MORE IMPORTANT because we do have less opportunity.

So just what does the WDFW do or what do they say they do?

Reading right off the WDFW website here is what their “Mission and Goals” page says.

Our Mission: To preserve, protect and perpetuate fish, wildlife and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities.
Vision: Conservation of Washington’s fish and wildlife resources and ecosystems.
WDFW defines “Conservation” as; Protection, preservation, management, or restoration of natural environments and the ecological communities that inhabit them; including management of human use for public benefit and sustainable social and economic needs.
Department Goals: To achieve its mission, WDFW will continue to focus its activities on the following four goals:
Goal 1: Conserve and protect native fish and wildlife
Goal 2: Provide sustainable fishing, hunting, and other wildlife-related recreational and commercial experiences
Goal 3: Promote a healthy economy, protect community character, maintain an overall high quality of life, and deliver high-quality customer service.
Goal 4: Build an effective and efficient organization by supporting our workforce, improving business processes, and investing in technology.

Sooooo….whats my point?

First of all I think that WDFW is clearly failing at its mission and goals…. to put it very kindly.

Yes, we as the sportsman need to lobby to protect and expand our interests…but we also need to hold WDFW and its members to a higher standard and when things such as this arise they need to be a lot more forthright than what has happened in this case. There are so many questions…

How many pounds of fish were actually netted?
How does that compare to previous years?
Why can’t a selective hatchery fish only plan be put into place on the Sol-Duc?
Who oversees the tribal catch numbers?
Don’t they keep running totals…how could they over-fish the system so badly?
How, if at all, will this affect the tribe’s netting practices in future years?

Second, part of the WDFW is enforcement…and I believe if I had over-fished my limit I could face fines, equipment confiscation and possibly criminal penalties such as incarceration. What happens on the commercial/tribal side if that happens? Should there be penalties levied against the Quileute tribe for clearly over-fishing to the point they had to close the entire system to the other co-managers? I am sorry but "jee wiz we sure are sorry" is not acceptable nor should it be!

Thank you for reading this long post and in closing… let us please be focused on the issue…this isn’t about some long term decline of a fishery and we all are whining about the good ole days…this is about a fishery that was and is viable, was open to fishing for both recreational and commercial/tribal interests and one of those parties grossly over-fished to the point where the entire system has been closed.