I have had 2 questions pertaining to the true impact of the Makah overfishery. Hopefully someone on this board can enlighten me.

1) The Makah reported their catch of 20K several weeks before they stopped fishing. It sounded to me like the fishing was hottest toward the end. What was the final number of fish they will admit to taking?


2) I inquired earlier on this board as to the rate of undersized salmon by-catch that gets discarded. I believe it was Salmo G that told me the established rate is 33%. I responded that 33% sounds about right for a summer king troll fishery. But anyone who has fished winter blackmouth knows that the shaker/keeper ratio goes WAY up at that time of year. And anyone familiar with commercial trolling knows that VERY few shakers are released alive. So, is WDFW using the 33% dreamland percentage or are they using a realistic number?

I have a couple of questions as well: how many coded wire tags were recovered and from what stocks?

What is the ratio used to determine impact when CWTs are recovered? I've heard/read 10 to 1...if so, that means that the 5 CWT fish caught from mid Hood Canal stocks means the Makah took 50 fish from a run guesstimated to be 200...

And another: why is it necessary for reporters to use the Freedom of Information Act to get harvest numbers for tribes/sports harvests?

Keith

KJ: Both good questions. I wonder why this isn't 100 percent transparent?

I am told by someone who should know that the wire tag recovery has several problems. One is that the sample is so small as to scientifically unsupportable the other is the model assumes that hatchery fish behave in the exact same way as wild fish. This is an untested and unproven theory, but it is what they use to determine impacts.


Then the tribe and its WDFW mouthpieces come out and tell us that there was very little impact on threatened fish. At best they are uninformed, at worst . . .

I have a 5th question: Why is marine area 4 always closed to winter blackmouth sports fishing??

If the impact was "minimal" for the Makah fishery, then it would be minimal for us too.

Slabquest,

33% is the shaker mortality rate for coastal troll salmon fishing that I recall WDFW as providing from research they did in the 1970s. There might be more current information, but I’m not aware of it. Come to think of it, I don’t think there was any winter trolling involved when that estimate was made, since the old troll season was from late April into October or thereabouts. No winter trolling, so if more and smaller fish are encountered during winter trolling, then perhaps the mortality rate is higher. Unfortunately, the people who could tell us seem to be the very ones who are involved in less-than-transparent public disclosure lately.

Kjackson,

The number of fish represented by each CWT varies according to its corresponding mark group. The range can be fairly wide, so it serves no purpose to speculate about 10 to 1.

It is absolutely ridiculous that anyone should have to use FOIA or the state Public Disclosure Act to obtain public information, which is why it’s essential to have these federal and state laws.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Very good question SQ. If according to Salmo whom I would choose to believe, they're using the 33% figure then the estimates are out of orbit. I have easily experience a 6 or more to 1 ratio of shakers vs keepers this past winter during the months of November in area 9 and in Area 10 during late December and early January. I would also agree with your assessment that the commercial troll mortality of these undersize fish is probably over 80%. This is outrageous. But once again the "Co-Managers" are doing their best to sustain the fishery. Yea right.

Check out the PI makah articles thread here. They confirmed some fish were dungeness kings and endangered south sound kings from the wire tags.

I have fished the Sooke area four times this winter and have not caught (or seen caught) many shakers. So maybe there are less of them in the straits.