Time has all but run out in trying to get a summer sport fishery for hatchery chinook heading into Lake Washington.

At a public meeting in late April, state Fish and Wildlife and tribal officials looked at ways of crafting possible fisheries that would target a healthy Lake Washington hatchery chinook run, and got tentative approval from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to pursue such a deal.

The state heard a strong proposal that month from the public about creating a terminal sport fishery in Shilshole Bay.

"It was decided to have a selective fishery that targets only hatchery fish in a place where the fish would still be catchable and biting, and we said all right," said Pat Pattillo, a state Fish and Wildlife salmon policy coordinator. "We felt that we could demonstrate we're targeting on hatchery chinook, and the proposal would be to have a fishing season in Shilshole Bay beginning Aug. 18 [with a catch quota of... Continued@URL... http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/othersports/2008035516_outn06.html

2 out of 3 governmental agencies agree, but one "no" vote cancels everything....and folks want to remove as many hatchery fish from the system as possible

That's how this state operates. Must have "consensus" on everything. It makes moving forward on most things impossible.

We don't elect strong leaders here. In my opinion, people are afraid of strong leadership in Washington State.

If there are fish left in the non-treaty share, WDFW has cards it could play. WDFW doesn't have to raise those hatchery chinook in the first place, at Issaquah or at Green River. Kind of a bite the nose to spite the face measure, but if it's significant, then it could be worth the move.

They could always just have the fishery in Lake Sammish again...if fishermen don't mind catching brown and black boots off the mouth of Issaquah Creek, that is.

There are some big ones, and they fight well...but some of the fish I've seen in fish boxes down there make the gnarly chums being carried home in November look pretty good.

Fish on...

Todd

The tribes have had freshwater bay as their own "private water" for many moons. Why would anyone expect them to give that up.

But the Muckleshoot Tribe apparently has said no to allowing a fishery.

"We're stuck, and we got a rejection from the Muckleshoots even though the Suquamish agreed with us on the fishery," Pattillo said. "This year we tried to come up with a rational way to get a fishery for those chinook and tried to get it done earlier with the tribes to go forward with it.

"We felt it was a responsible fishery, and what we got was their flat rejection with no rationale."

Another classic tribal negotiation tool....NO! And the reason for it: Because they can and WDFW doesn't do anything but roll over the barrel....

And spread our cheeks....

I'm with Salmo on this one.

Roger that Jerry G !!!!!!!!!

Peace
Fly

This was a non starter back in the spring. All that has been done since the Muckleshoots called the shots is feel good discussions with sports groups and leaders. The tribe will have their "test fishery" in the lake and take thousands of Kings...all they care about. If they could get away with saying no to all sports fishing they would do it. With Gregoire stuffing her pockets with tribal cash we should not expect much as long as she remains in office. The tribes control fisheries in Washington and unfortunately a good guy like Pat Patillo has to stand up in front of all of us and try his best to put a good spin on a bad out of control situation.

I like the idea of shutting down the hatcheries but realistically the tribes would block such a move in a heartbeat.