Wife and I went into town (Port Angeles) tonight for a nice dinner. We went to the Wildfire Grill up on west 8th street. They specialize i a wood fired oven cooking, very very good vittles. I ask the waitress what the specials were, which she started rattling off and the last one was Wild Steel Head. I asked her to confirm with the manager whether or not it was WILD STEELHEAD. It was!!!!! I expressed my concern (politely), but she informed me that 2 WDFW employees were in today eating and they said it was OK (kind of doubt that end of the story). She also told me that the Kokopelli Grill (corner of Front & Lincoln) also had Wild Steelhead on their reader board. After dinner at the Wildfire, I drove by Kokopelli and did ot see the sign. What is going on in Port Angeles, eradicate Wild Steelhead???? I read the thread on Bushwhackers and one of the folks had a very good and polite "why not to have Wild Steelhead" on the menu. Would that "Folk" please also send it to Wildfire & Kokopelli????

We both had Steak

I think I would have found another establishment to give my business to and politely explained why I preferred not to dine there.

By the way I'm thinking the tribes are giving them a screaming deal on these fish. Does anybody know the price of extinction?

I would have bonked out of there. Its like when I went to Pikes Place and saw 20 or so Adipose intact steelhead with a beaut of a sign "Wild Steelhead". Well piss on that, I guess the public is ignorant and really don't care. In all reality the members of this forum are representative of about 1% of Washington State Citizens. You think that the majority or even the sub majority give half a damn about what most of us bitch about on this website?

here is there email Denny@wildfirerocks.com

I was there for dinner tonight and was going to post about it to.
I also complained to the chef.

Here's my email to the wildfire grill, I hope the Wild Steelhead Coalition author in the Bushwhacker thread doesn't mind a bit of plagerizism. . . . . .

Dear Wildfire Grill,

Last night my wife and I came in to your grill for dinner. We are repeat customers and have really enjoyed your fair quite often in the past. I asked the waitress what the "Specials" were for that evening. She informed me wild steelhead was one of the specials. I informed her that Wild Steelhead on the menu greatly disturbed me.

I am asking that you do not serve or consider purchasing wild steelhead from any Northwest river.

Plain and simple: Wild steelheads are in sad shape these days with the majority of the runs in our state either listed under the endangered species act or on the brink. The west end streams of the Olympic Peninsula are considered by many has one of the last strong holds for wild steelhead, but they are badly faltering under the same failed management schemes that have been the demise of so many other great steelhead streams. This year the Quillayute river system failed to meet its spawning escapement level by 25% and the Hoh River has been very irregular over the last decade in meeting its spawning escapement level. Yet over aggressive harvest management strategies continue to exist on wild steelhead, which are clearly contributing to these escapement failures.

Please do not provide a market for wild steelhead. Your purchases will only serve to hasten the demise of this magnificent fish. The Wild Steelhead Coalition (WSC) is an organization that is dedicated to increasing the return of wild steelhead to the rivers and waters of the Pacific Northwest. The WSC has been working for better conservation and management of wild steelhead and your purchase of wild steelhead defeats that purpose.

The Wild Steelhead Coalition believes that as an environmentally conscious northwest company, you will join us in our fight to preserve this great game fish and precious natural resource.

Thank you,

JohnQ -- Freshwater Bay

PS I "Borrowed" the middle part on my email to you from a thread written about the Bushwhacker serving wild steelhead awhile back. That website, Pistorial Pursuits is dedicated to Sports Fishing and Conservation here in the Pacific Northwest, especially wild fish. Please take the time to go to that website for some very important information regarding wild fish.

One thing you might take into consideration is the education of these eating establishment.It would be one thing if the owners of these establishments were aware of the PNW steelhead crisis and continued to serve the item. It is another if the purveyor is not aware.They have purchased inventory for resale from a state licensed fish monger.You really can't expect the owner to take a major financial hit for product he bought in good faith.How about a good faith education procedure by one or more of the steelhead coalitions in the area.Contact and educate the owners before they purchase the product.This would have the desired effect on the wholesalers.If there is no market for the item,the gillnetters would not have a market for the product.These are small business.Local at that and need every bit of cash flow they can get to stay in business these days.I think it is better to be proactive than reactive in these situations.I do a lot of business in P.A. and eat at most of the establishments mentioned.Let's give them the benefit of the doubt before we start pulling the rug out from underneath them.

Can't hurt to remind them that the steelhead is the State Fish, either...and it's the one with the fin that's on all the literature

Fish on...

Todd

Yup the term wild means something different in the marketing biz..Farmed means raised in a pen, nasty yuck, wild also means hatchery released into the wild, or it could be true wild..Might let him check his sources before he gets firebombed and comes looking with his attorneys.

Ignorance of the issue would be a stronger argument in Chicago, New York, L.A. or Sioux Falls; kind of hard to believe that folks in P.A. are unaware.....

That said, a first shot over the bow could be a polite request with a little background just to support the position.

I know Denny, I'll try and get ahold of him.

no it really isn't

+1

Its all perfectly Ok with the FDA and Dept of Ag for a searun hatchery fish to be sold as wild, its just to confusing for average consumers.

i wonder if they buy it from this guy ?

http://www.foodsinseason.com/seafood/quinault-river-steelhead/

Thats going to be a hard one to break, high end resturants nationwide like to advertise thats it caught by the tribes..Folks think its really really cool and fork out the extra cash!

PLUS ONE

The problem isn't just the idea of selling "wild" steelhead, there's also the fact that even when they are purchasing hatchery fish they are supporting the tribal gill-nets and thereby subsidizing the slaughter....

This was the exact situation a few years ago when I confronted a friend of mine, who owned an eatery.

We went back and looked at his fish and the were hatchery fish caught "in the wild."

Terms can be deceiving. I would politely ask to verify the true situation.