Keep the New Year champagne flowing, Bob. HOT OFF THE PRESS, buddy!!!

You won't believe this when you read it! Somebody finally listened!



Tustumena stocking comes to screeching halt

Maybe this could set legal presidence here in washington as well?

Is ONP considdered a wilderness area?

interesting question rich.I imediatly think of the buckhorn wilderness erea?I know up there you are aloud livestock,dogs and to hunt.

TRBO, where are you? Surprised I haven't heard your "victory cries of joy" all the way down here in Grays Harbor.... must be getting muffled by all this snow.

You have to remember that TRBO has reiter rat and all the boys up there for the Snoopy classic. Probably not a lot of time to be on the computer!!!

Never mind....

Actually fNp ... I think I was so high in the clouds, you couldn't hear me

It's long overdue and a Godsend for the river.

I can't think of anywhere else in the world where they allowed such a program to exist without any regard whatsoever for the other species in the river.

Great news for the kings in both rivers!!

Amen, Bob, Amen!

Now that the sockeye issue is behind us, the next hurdle is securing funds and staff to jump start an annual late run Kasilof chinook stock assessment.... far too long overdue.

This ruling left the fate of 6 million sockeye fry that are still being reared in the hatchery completely up in the air. It was unclear whether the fish would be destroyed or whether they would be stocked into the Tustemena/Kasilof system or perhaps some other location. That decision was finally made today:

Fate of sockeye fry now sealed

Looks like this will be the final "enhancement" to the system. Pretty amazing that this stocking program was used to keep the setnets operating extended hours in Cook Inlet. Fish managers would keep non-selective nets in the water by emergency order to prevent "overescapement" of sockeye into the Kasilof River. In the meantime, thousands of non-target Kasilof and Kenai River kings were doomed to perish in those nets.

It only took them a decade to figure out that the best way to prevent "overescapement" was to quit stocking the damn river with surplus sockeye in the first place. Looking forward to more kings entering both rivers!

Meant to post on this earlier, but barely enough time to tie my shoes this time of year

Couldn't be happier with this decision. IT took exactly what we'd been predicting for years to end this: feds intervention with regard to the upstream refuge property.

In the long run, it will spell good things for both rivers' other species as the bycatch on longs has been huge. Sure, we harvest them, but the number of July sport-caught kings harvested in the Kasilof is a tiny fraction of what goes into the sockeye nets.

Now, of the state can get a management plan in place and make sure this fine run of fish gets some protection when needed!