If there is going to be any type of action, post it in a seperate heading so that everyone here will know where,what and when...

I just sent an email to the biz dev people in Neah. I just basically said I was boycotting and would run from Seiku or Snow and why.
Neah is a sh***ole anyway.
It will cost me a lot more in gas but it needs to be done.
We need to get the word out to the people that use the charter boats rather than bring their own boats too. We need to put the pressure on charter captains and the hotel (dump) owners.
Maybe one of the fishing associations could run an ad in Fishing and Hunting Lies or ???

Just remember that the NB charters are on your side in this matter, most of whom don't have a real affiliation with the tribe. The tribe has already imposed a $3.50 passenger fee this year on the charter businesses, which has been accepted. Better that the flat 10% that they have been proposing for a year now.

Then the charters should be happy to pick up clients at the docks in Sekiu or Snow Creek.

So everyone is sending emails and calling the same people they have for the past 20 some years. Why would you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result?
Seems to me you are dealing with a court case that completely strips those folks of the ability to do anything except listening to your complaints. If Jerry's post is correct and only NOAA has the authority to step in and take control of the management shouldn't 100% of the effort be aimed at NOAA? Talking to WDFW to me is like asking criminals to help you stop crime. They will just pat you on the back and ask you to trust them to watch your wallet.

I know a couple that would be happy to (at snow creek), except that there's no shore power or ample supply of freshwater on the dock. Or space. I think I would if I were running a small trailer sized boat.
Sekiu wouldn't be an option because of the regulations of MA 5 and there's just plain more fish in 4a, and the fact that charters cannot fish within 12 miles of canadian soil in canadian waters. It'd be hard to turn a profit there.

here's the article from the front page of the peninsula daily news, article , i like how its says that the massacre will have little effect on the future population, and that it will no hurt anyone elses season

oops didnt notice sky-guy had already posted it

Hey guys,..been a long time since I've posted but am a constant lurker as many know.

Since its been awhile since I've posted just wanna give some quick karma to those that are trying to make a diference. WAY TO GO GUYS!!

(Todd you get special Karma for cowboying up on that net pulling incedent on the Green,..you Da man!!)

Blood finally reached its boiling point yesterday and had to cowboy up myself.

Its not just the Makah's, its state wide mismanagement and pretty well apparent at least on my home river. Maybe we can turn some eyes state wide now.

Sent my letter today to all WDFW officials, as well as State officials, district legislators, Times & Skagit Valley Herald. Not great at puttin' together letters so hope ya dont mind fishNphysician, that I used yours for my format as well as what Jerry had to say regarding Boldt. Here's what I wrote;

"I am writing to express my extreme frustration and displeasure about Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) management oversight; not only regarding the blatant over-harvest of Chinook salmon by the Makah Tribe winter troll fishery in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but also the over-harvest in other North Puget Sound areas as well.

The principal “co-managers” should be held accountable for allowing this and all other blatant incidents to happen. It is a crime against all other users of the resource, as well as ESA-listed stocks of Chinook from the Columbia River basin and Puget Sound Area Rivers. It is high time for federal government to step in and take charge of the gross mismanagement of our resource under WDFW watch. An open-ended season by tribal fishermen without regulated, defined harvest quotas should never be allowed to occur.

Under the Boldt Decision, individual treaty tribes have a legal test to show that they can self-regulate their fisheries. Boldt, even though it confirmed treaty rights, also took 100% control of the fisheries from both the treaty tribes and the state. It then granted both the state and the tribes the ability to self-regulate their fisheries as long as they could show that they could stay within the guidelines set out in Boldt. This is not happening! If they cannot meet that test, then the NOAA-Fisheries can and should take over directly by setting their seasons and enforcing them.

As a second generation full-time fishing guide in Washington State whose resident and out-of-state clients spend thousands of dollars a year to sport fish for salmon and steelhead in Washington, I am discouraged by higher and higher license fees for less and less angling opportunity and gross mismanagement of our resource. Sport salmon and steelhead seasons are cut short, bag limits reduced, fishing gear restricted, and wild salmon are placed off-limits to retention. That’s not to say that such measures aren’t good for ailing fish stocks.

However, when anglers sacrifice so much for the benefit of fish restoration, while other users are permitted to indiscriminately over-harvest threatened stocks, it is simply outrageous! Wherever fisheries are mismanaged to allow over-harvest by tribal and commercial fishermen, be it in the open ocean,
Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, or the Columbia and Puget Sound Area River systems, the sport fishermen suffer. Your constituents deserve better… way better!

I have guided anglers on a daily basis, fishing our North Puget Sound Area rivers as well as our Olympic Peninsula Area Rivers for the last decade and am extremely discouraged by the blatant over harvest and mismanagement of our fish stocks by tribal fishermen, especially. The Skagit River System is one that needs to be brought to your immediate attention before another mismanagement oversight occurs. I have personally witnessed the over-harvest and wanton waste of salmon and steelhead by tribal fishermen and have reported it on many occasions to WDFW and Washington State Patrol with no action. Something needs to be done before it is too late.

The Makah Tribe’s over-harvest of our salmon is a wake-up call to decision makers that Washington State’s fisheries are in a state of woeful disrepair. It’s high time we get it fixed before we allow the “co-managers” to harvest not only ESA-listed but all salmon and steelhead to extinction.

Sincerely yours,"

Thanks again to everyone doing there best to make a difference!!!

John,

Good to see you here...haven't been fishing upriver much, but hope your doing well.

This (the repeal of Boldt) would do wonders for our rivers in the near future (5-7 years?). If we could get the nets out of the Skagit, the wild fish might stand a chance at some recovery...as it is, they are doomed.

Have been keeping an eye on the netting at Ovenells...those nets have been in 24/7 for the last week...and will likely remain. I went up there last Sunday and talked with the Upper Skagit fellows that were there...all three were drunk as skunks at noon...

They have nets on both sides of the channel at the bend...no fish are going to run that fast, middle section...so they are likely killing everything that passes up through the channel...which is all the fish.

I checked again today...those nets are not being monitored (no one there the last 3 days I went) and one had enough fish to pull down several floats.

Anyway...good to see you here!

Mike

I talked with Mark Yuasa today ,he is one of my fishing buds, and thanked him personally for all of this group for breaking this story . now I might have to be his bodyguard when he goes to those fisheries meetings in the future ( somewhat kidding).Anyway he thanks all of you for the e-mails of gratitude. I will get ahold of him and tell him about this shinding on sat am, let the media know
mike

All of us try so hard to do what is right concerning the resource and then 20,000 are taken out in a blink of an eye, sad.

Hey, Johnny...

Long time no see...didn't see ya at the Sportsman's Show this year. Were you there?

Thanks for the kudos on the net incident...it's not over yet, but so far it looks like all good has come of it.

Fish on...

Todd

From today's Seattle Times:

"We voluntarily restricted our fisheries for many years in response to depressed salmon abundance. The public should look at our increased chinook catch this year as evidence that our sacrifices are paying off, and that state and tribal salmon recovery efforts are working." Ben Johnson Jr., Makah Tribal Chairman

Please someone tell me this guy doesn't really expect for us to buy this poop!


Ok, I admit I've been on and off of this board for a few years now and have lived and fished in WA my whole life; and I still haven't joined a local fishing club. Time to get involved, Sno-King PSA here I come. I'll be at the next March mtg. in Edmonds. I'll try introducing myself to you Grandpa.

BD

Well I might become a very unpopular member after I post this, but I feel there might be enough value in it that I will take the risk.

First of all it wasn't the Boldt decision that has wrecked havoc on our anadramous fisheries. Imagine your outrage if the impacts that native harvests had were equal to the impacts that dams, and non native commercial harvest had.
Sorry, but I have actually read the Treaty of Point No Point, and a few other important treaties that basically all say the same thing; Hand over 80-90 % of your land and we guarantee your right to fish, the chance to live on a remnant of your former lands, and a sack of flour. I can understand why some of them try and extract maximum value from those treaty rights.
I really believe that if white guys like myself ignore these facts, all we will end up doing is banging our heads against the wall.

Potential solution? That starts with an understanding of what everyone wants.
I want huge healthy runs of salmon and steelhead. I'm guessing so does everyone else that posts here.
And the Natives? Actually most of them are pretty clear about what they want. They want to catch fish, and make some kind of living out of it. Thats not any different then what they've been doing for thousands of years.

Maybe if sportsmens' groups cooperated directly with native counsel groups rather then through our impotent WDFW we might find some real solutions. I've seen some estimates of what the value of a steelhead is as a sport caught fish. How can we help the tribes extract some of that value (i.e money) out of fish they leave IN the river?

For example enourage them to scrap a few fireworks stands and maybe instead open up a decent tackle shop on the Skokomish. Remind them that NOT stretching gillnets across the river encourages people to spend $$ on bait and tackle.

Sorry, I am falling asleep. I worked last night and now my train of thought drifts. I hope some of this made sense. I just tend to be more of a believer in persuasion then bashing them over the head with a stick.

Lastly...yes I was nauseated when I heard about the overharvest. And yes I wanted to kick someone in the proverbial nads.

vince

Mike,

How's it goin'? Dont want to hijack this thread and take it off its current path,...so I'll make this as short as I can;

Skagit River net schedule is as follows right now;
- Swinomish & Sauk Suiattle Tribe will be netting from Mt Vernon Bridge downstream to North Fork Bridge 8AM Sundays - 12 Noon Tuesdays until March 15th
- Skagit tribe net schedule is similar but up-stream of the Mt Vernon Bridge.

Current reports are that they are getting 1.75 per/lb for steelhead right now

Reason nets are still in at Devil's Elbow and throughout is because of the recent high water (make-up days) (still dont quite get that one myself) Nets are supposed to be out today, the 4th....and probably right back in on Sunday.

One thing I would like to know is just how many permit holders each tribe has...its hard not to drive down the South side of the river and not see a net off of every accessable point on the river.

One thing we do have going for us up here right now is a new Fish & Wildlife Officer to the area. His name is Troy McCormick and his cell # is (360) 201 - 2617 and he is very on top of things.
I was down fishing by the nets at Devil's Elbow the other day and Troy could be seen sitting in his truck observing the nets. I called him when I got home and asked about the nets still being in and he informed me he had looked into it already and informed me of the make-up days.
---------------------------
Todd, yeah I was at the show working the booth for our Alaska operaton.
Great to see you keeping on top of these things Todd!!!..keep it up brotha!!!