Dear Commissioners of WDFW and Morris Barker,
Please consider changing the crab meeting date immediately for the scheduled Saturday, March 5, opening day of trout season to another day that does not have any fishing related importance. Also do not schedule it on the same day as any other WDFW meetings that the general public is invited to, as thus has been happening so far this year. Your posts ask for "public input" and then you schedule meetings on one of the busiest fishing days of the year. This is not a fair practice to the people of Washington State that you are supposed to be representing. It is very hard for us to talk to the sportfishers of Washington state about fairness when this is purposely done. The general public is getting very angry about the way WDFW handles matters like this. These matters are really waking a gentle giant. I think it would be in your best interest to start to work with the general public and not without them. We need a fair date set to represent ourselves.
Thank you
Ron Garner
WDFW Shrimp Advisor
President Sno-King Chapter
Puget Sound Anglers

email addresses to send your responses to:
commission@dfw.wa.gov
BARKEMWB@dfw.wa.gov

Ron: I got an e mail form the secretary of the commission, stating that they had been unaware the chosen date was the fishing season opener and they would look into a different date.

It seems to me to be a fair indication of how out of touch our commission is, when they are unaware of the date of the trout opener.

Geez..out of touch is right.....each year since I was a kid we embark on the opening day tradition along with about 500,000 other folks. That must have slipped by the commissioners alright....uh huh!

Grandpa, Dave, and Ron...

Funny reading your responses to Ron's post...I just read an e-mail from him with his note to WDFW in it, and responded with exactly the same things you two said.

What's worse? Scheduling it on the same day as opening day of trout season on purpose, or doing it on accident?

On purpose would be par for the course, but on accident...that just shows how wide the gap is between the fishing public and the policymakers at WDFW.

I barely even trout fish, and even I know when opening day is...granted, it's my favorite day to be on the Sauk, when 3/4 of the weekend warriors have to take their kids fishing, leaving me most of the river!

Fish on...

Todd

It's Typicial of WDFW to hold their meetings solely on the I-5 Corridor, they could care less about the input from those who live out on the Peninsula or in the areas affected by their rulings. That's normal business as usual keep those who live on the I-5 corridor happy and screw those who live in the outlying areas of the rest of the State. They could care less about us, they schedule their meetings so it's impossible top attend unless your willing to make it an overnite adventure and then they ignore any input from their constituancy.

They also schedule fishing meetings in eastern Washington for saltwater subjects. Like the meeting in Chelan for Canadian caught sport salmon brought back into the US into Bellingham. This is where the PSA Bellingham chapter has been battling this off and on for years. Take it away from the subject area for non input and then say no one is interested in it so they can do what they want.

What did I miss?
The last Satruday in April (the 30th this year) is the general lowland lake opener.

March 1st is when the some of the lakes in eastern Washington open early.

Also see lake opening days of Feb. 1, April 1, the Saturday before Memorial day, June 1, July 1, Sept. 1, and Dec. 1 but no March 5.

Now I can understand that since March 5th is the first Saturday after the opener why some might wish to go fishing. Should the week after every opener be reserved for no meetings so that everyone can go on their first day off? Of course if we expand that for each fishing opener (game fish, salmon, bottom fish, and shellfish), as well as the hunting openers there would be a number of weeks where the commission could not meet.

Todd -
March 5st is your favorite day on the Sauk? Just think it is only a week away. Kind of thought you might lean to something a little later in the spring.

Tight lines
S malma

I need to fix my error:
BAD CRAB MEETING DATE
Saturday, March 5, Dr. Morris Barker, WDFW Fish Program State Marine Resource Manager, will present state proposed “Permanent Rule Amendments”, concerning Puget Sound sport crab seasons, to the DFW commission. No public input at that time will be heard. The commission is then to “consider” those proposals until April 30, when a “special meeting” has been scheduled to hear FINAL public input, from 9am till 2pm, in Olympia.
Is it a “coincidence” that public meeting has been scheduled on opening day of lake trout season? I THINK NOT! “I’m sorry son (daughter) I can’t take you trout fishing on opening day, as has been our ‘bonding’ experience for so many years, I have to go complain to the DFW commission about future crab seasons, a topic they will have probably already decided by that time”.
Think about how many hunting topics have been considered by the commission, on hunting openers or in-season. “Lets see, should I go Elk hunting opening day or talk to the commission about future pheasant opportunities I’m concerned about?”
The department has a track record of scheduling important meetings for their convenience or to assure low turnouts by sportsmen. Contact Morris Barker

Follow up email.


My apologies on the wrong date on the previous email. Trout season is April 30 when the Crab meeting date was set for.
Sincerely,
Ron Garner

Thanks -
Makes sense now!

Tight lines
S malma

Here is the reply already one of our members got. WOW! I left her name out.

Hi Ron,

I called Morris Barker and the WDFW Commissioners office to complain about the meeting date of April 30. To my surprise they BOTH called me back and said the date is rescheduled to May 7. The place and time will be announced soon.

Now they need to give us back our crabbing rights. Do you think we really have a snowballs chance in hell to achieve this? It seems to be getting harder and harder to have fun and supply ourselves with the natural resources of fish, seafood and wild game like my great great great grandfather did. I can't bring myself to go to the store and purchase any of the above mentioned goodies. I don't trust the way they're commercially processed and sold. Gathering my own fish, seafood and wild game is something I've done for over 40 years. It's a darn shame to be cut out of the loop now, so that the commercial harvesters can over harvest without penalties. Then they force us to go to the store to buy it if we want to eat and enjoy it.

Sometimes it seems like an endless battle and we are at their mercy.....What a shame!

Thanks for the info and I'll keep writing to those yeaaaa hooooo's.

S malma,

My three favorite days on the Sauk are as follows:

1. My birthday (April 6). Caught the fish in my avatar on my birthday two years ago.

2. Opening Day for trout season...very few folks for a weekend day.

3. Pretty much all the other days between March 20th and April 30th, as long as the conditions are nice and I'm there!

Fish on...

Todd

Isnt May 7th the opening day of shrimp season.

Yes it is and they threw a May 14 at me and I emailed them that this was shrimp season. Read the other post. Thanks Dave,
Ron

All that work you are going through and they already have their minds made up...done deal.

Yeah, I'm afraid that

THIS

sets the stage for us taking it in the shorts again.

How's this to define their position:

"Even so, the recreational catch has cut into the share of the harvest reserved for commercial and tribal fisheries in each of the past four seasons, said Morris Barker, WDFW marine resource manager. "

NEWS RELEASE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
February 28, 2005

Contact: Susan Yeager, (360) 902-2267



Fish and Wildlife Commission will hear options
for slowing down sport crab catch in Puget Sound



Strategies for slowing the pace of the recreational crab catch in Puget Sound will be one of several topics discussed at a public meeting of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission scheduled March 4-5 in Olympia.



In preparation for the 2005 crab season, shellfish managers for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will brief the commission on recent trends in the fishery and discuss possible options for keeping the recreational catch within prescribed harvest guidelines.



Those options could include such measures as reduced bag limits, delayed openings and fewer fishing days per week, said Commission Chair Ron Ozment, noting that the commission will not take any actions affecting the upcoming season until May.



Based on recent years catch data, its clear that well need to make some changes in the fishery if we want to keep the recreational catch in line with current guidelines, Ozment said. The purpose of this meeting is to examine what those options might be.



The briefing on Puget Sound crab management will take place at 9:30 a.m. March 5 in room 172 of the Natural Resource Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E., Olympia.



WDFW staff will also brief the commission during the two-day meeting on a variety of other topics, including wolf-management policies, mining rules and the departments hunter education program. The complete schedule for the meeting is available on the commissions website (http://wdfw.wa.gov/com/meetings.htm).



Members of the public who wish to comment on these or other issues can do so during comment periods at the beginning and end of each day of the meeting. Comments can also be sent to the Commission via e-mail (commission@dfw.wa.gov), fax (360-902-2448), or regular mail at 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091.



Those interested in commenting on Puget Sound crab-management strategies can also do so at a special commission meeting, dedicated exclusively to that subject, on May 14, starting at 9 a.m. at the Tyee Center, 5757 Littlerock Road, S.E., Tumwater. Anyone wishing to testify before the commission must sign up by 11 a.m. that day.



Ozment said consideration of new crab-management strategies is a direct result of the sport fisherys growing popularity in recent years. According to WDFW harvest data, the recreational crab catch in Puget Sound has doubled in less than a decade, prompting shellfish managers to close fishing seasons weeks ahead of schedule in several areas.



Even so, the recreational catch has cut into the share of the harvest reserved for commercial and tribal fisheries in each of the past four seasons, said Morris Barker, WDFW marine resource manager.



In some areas of Puget Sound, theres so much gear on the water that we cant shut the fishery down fast enough to keep the recreational harvest within its harvest guidelines, Barker said. We need some way to slow the sport fishery down if the goal is to stay within the harvest guidelines established by the commission.



That is true for virtually all fishing areas in Puget Sound, except for southern Puget Sound and the western Strait of Juan de Fuca, he said.



We plan to recommend a variety of options to the commission for keeping the recreational fishery within its harvest guidelines, Barker said. The situation varies from one area of Puget Sound to another, so were not looking for a one-size-fits-all management solution.