OMG, I am speechless, I just don't..........

Apparently they need some ejumication.

Fish on...

Todd

My bet is that they are plenty "ejumicated" and know exactly what they are doing. After all, it seems like a thread about them selling wild fish appears every other year or so. Just do a search above. It seems likely that they are just much more interested in making money than the health of the fish. The stance of the WDFW provides them with a nice cover and allows them to keep putting the cash before the fish... at least until there are no more fish.

The WDFW link states sea turtles.....Huh? Are these lost sea turtles?

Just stopped by and didn't see any wild steelhead. Didn't look too hard though.

Wild steelhead has been taken off their website, and shelfs.

Lets hope the emails, and protest threats worked. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Tony

Nice work Tony. Let's hope they keep it off.

This is crazy I understand all your anger about Steelhead but lets really use our heads first before we jump to conclusions. The Steelhead they are selling or were selling is from rivers on the Coast of Washington not the PUGET SOUND. These fish are not endangered or on the brink of being listed as some of you stated. The Tribes on the Coast are allowed to take these fish and sell them commercially because of their Treaty or executive order right. They can take them with Gillnets or conventional sport fishing gear like you or I would use. The Coastal fishery for Steelhead is managed by the WDFW which we all know is a concern but the Steelhead still seem to be returning in good numbers for everyone to catch sport and Tribal fishers. I hope that you will all understand that while I don't advocate non-selective commercial fishing for Wild Steelhead I can appreciate the Tribes right to take Wild and Hatchery Steelhead, I'm currently working on building a selective commercial fishery by the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation while also opening a new hatchery to raise and release Winter Steelhead for everyone to enjoy.

I do have some real concerns about Over fishng in Grays Harbor by the QIN with a schedule for Steelhead Sunday through Friday until April 16th. This might be something you can all get excited about and make some noise to WDFW.

AuntyM you have good points and I agree that Steelhead numbers on the Coast should be better and that overharvest may be taking place in more than just Grays Harbor. It just bothers me when Sport fishermen yell and scream about a commercially caught wild Steelhead when they have the same ability to take Wild Steelhead from the same rivers and enjoy them at their table. The Sportfishermen may not take as many wild Steelhead from the Coastal Rivers as their co-managers do but they do have an impact and it is real. It is not just the locals that keep Wild Steelhead. Isn't it clear when the guides are the main proponents for keeping Wild Steelhead on the Olympic Penninsula it is because people want to go there and keep a giant Wild Steelhead.

Of course the Chehalis River and Grays Harbor are somewhat different in that there is no Wild restention for Sportsman so this is an issue. THE FISHERY BY QIN SUNDAY THRU FRIDAY UNTIL APRIL 16th IS NOT
A TREATY RIGHT THEY ARE FISHING IN TRADITIONAL CHEHALIS U&A NOT QIN at least according to the people I work with. The QIN are overfishing on what was forecasted as a weak wild return of Winter Steelhead much to the concern of me and others. The Chehalis Tribe's Fisheries department is working on Selective fisheries Techniques to target Hatchery fish during commercial fisheries and with the addition of their new hatchery which will be raising Winter Steelhead for everyone to catch hopefully we will all benefit. If we can only get WDFW to do some better managing with their co-managers we'll make some progress.

Seriously?

And you are a biologist?

I sincerely doubt that any of the sportfishers in this thread complaining about it bonk wild steelhead themselves...we have the legal ability to do so, but choose not to...just like the tribes, including the one you work for, can do...if they so choose.

Fish on...

Todd

i think that since the chehalis fish come out of the non-treaty share that the sportsman got a raw deal, there should only be 1 tribal fishery down there.

Boater there is only one Tribal Fishery at the Mouth it is the QIN. The Chehalis Tribe only fishes within it's reservation boundaries and they have been closed for 3 weeks. The Chehalis Tribe sits at the table with the Commercial and Recreational fishermen fighting for conservation and better co-management. If you don't want their help in the fight I think you must be crazy. I hope we can all work together to protect what is left by showing how to save wild fish and still have commercial fisheries. The escapement goals need to go up and more fish need to reach the gravel escpecially Chum.

I think we need everyone's help in the fight...the first step in the help is to stop harvesting wild steelhead, whether it is legal or not...the sporties, the QIN's, and the Chehalis Tribe, too.

Fish on...

Todd

Todd I hope we can work towards this with some new selective fishery techniques. If we can do this and eliminate the gill nets we can have the fishery that the Tribes want without taking all the wild fish out of the River. Thanks Todd.

Andy

If they develop and implement it, more power to 'em...I'd be happy to see it. The QIN will always be the biggest obstacle to any meaningful harvest reform in the Chehalis Basin, no way to get around that.

I think we've made great strides with the non-tribal fisheries over the past couple of years, so far as conservation balanced with opportunity goes.

Fish on...

Todd

What i think we should do is run those runs down just like the puget sound streams. When that happens I guess its ok to b*tch....

There is a high demand for product (steelhead hatchery or wild) from distributor to wholesalers to market. The only way to curtail it would be at its source.

It isn’t illegal to sell steelhead for the tribes. The QIN have slid on the sliding scale to irresponsibility IMO with wild stocks.

The QIN does not represent what most tribes in this state stand for. Everybody knows that most fisheries in this state are fragile if not on life support. Most co managers want to do what is right and WDFW could learn from some of them.

I always appreciate Biolofishers comments, and what he brings to the table.

Thanks Lucky Louie I hope we can start to make some real progress in the years to come but there will need to be some changes in the way WDFW works with the Co-managers. There needs to be more transparency and openess when it comes to fisheries data and what is being sold without a ticket. The Chehalis Tribe would like to work with the CCA or another group to set up an observer program and selective fisheries to limit impacts on wild fish. They work with WDFW currently to sample the catch for CWT and Scales for aging. The Chehalis Tribe also worked with USFWS last winter to test wild Coho and Steelhead for IHN. The WDFW actually operates their downstream migrant trap on the Chehalis Tribes property on the Reservation. They are happy to open their fish house to the public and the State because they have nothing to hide and being open about what goes on will allow the public to trust the Chehalis Tribe and support it's endeavors to get more wild fish to the gravel where they belong.

Biolofisher,

You can't just lump all "sportfishers" together. The people griping about commercial netting and sale of wild steelhead are usually opposed to retention of wild steelhead by sport anglers as well.