... coming soon.


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Boat launch

Permits had been issued a little more than a year ago through Fish &Wildlife for improvements to the 28th Street boat launch. The Port’s goal was to save the facility, ensure its integrity and make it safe for public use.

A bid then was awarded to Quigg Brothers.

Improvements include the replacement of the existing float, replacing the degree barrier and deflector, and repairs to the ramp and the bank line.

But before construction could get underway the permit expired and the Port had to go back to request permitting for the same job, only to find out requirements from Fish &Wildlife were more involved than before.

“The department then proposed additional requirements on the project that had an estimated value of more than $200,000,” said Marc Horton, Port director of environment and engineering services. “This was after the project was awarded to Quigg Brothers.”

Rather than accept the added costs, which Fish &Wildlife attributed to a change in personnel who had made an error in the original permit, the Port sat down to negotiations.

“The changes in the mitigation measures from the Department of Fish &Wildlife were totally unexpected and created an awkward situation, to say the least,” Horton said. “After several months of negotiation, including staff and consultant time spent with the department, a negotiated Hydraulic Project Approval was issued,” Horton said.

The added improvements include wrapping the existing creosote piles with an impermeable liner, using high-density plastic instead of treated wood for the resting system and applying hobble rock to the beach area to improve habitat.

The added improvements will cost more than $67,000, paid for with funds from the Port’s capital budget.

“It’s ridiculous for the Department of Fish &Wildlife to come back with something like this after the permit has already been issued and approval has been made, but there’s nothing we can do about it,” Commissioner Chuck Caldwell said Tuesday.

The negotiation reduced the cost of improvements by about $133,000, but the changes are still more than the Port had bid out.

Port officials were disappointed, but Horton looked at the outcome optimistically.

“There are potentially some advantages to the Port with these improvements,” Horton said. “The plastic resting system may outlast the wood resiting system — we don’t know, it’s unproven — and wrapping creosote piles would make them last just all that much longer.”

Commissioners unanimously approved the changes and additional funding.

The project, while set back early in its trajectory, is expected to be completed on time.

“Currently, the project is about three weeks behind schedule, but it is expected to be completed by the middle of February when the fish window closes,” Horton said.

- See more at: http://thedailyworld.com/news/local/hang...h.HTE8775u.dpuf

A needed upgrade......Good for the Port to take on the project.

Now to find parking that is large enough for all the fishermen that could be using the improved ramp.

Heck, keep the 4 days netting schedule and 3 days net free.....I might even move my fishing down river, 10 - 12 miles....start dragging some herring around.....

Cool although I've never used that ramp before...............Good luck,

SZ

Bill, we would like to see you out there some day...

Thought this thread needed an update a year after the fact.

The NEW and IMPROVED 28th St launch is beautiful and much more functional than in its previous state of decay.

Potholes in the old ramp have been repaired with new blocks and the bed has been deepened to allow MUCH easier launching at LOW water.

New metal railings replaced the busted up wooden ones.

A smooth guard on the margin of the dock covers up all the old sharp metal edges that routinely ate up boat hulls when unsuspecting folks were not mindful of wind/tide action.

A series of new cleats at regular intervals for tying off.

Much more durable sturdy posts replace the old wooden piles that were being chafed away by the tidal rise/fall of the dock.

THANK YOU Port of Grays Harbor Commissioners for funding this essential improvement!

WOW, might have to try that place one of these trolling seasons.

Thanks for the update,

fp

All the additional tax monies they get, once they pushed thru the "ability to tax", it should have been done years ago......

Now to tackle the parking problem.......at 28th Street

If not for the Hoquiam launch site, 28th Street could never handle the new traffic and parking impact....imo

They are trying to take care of that thru the lack of fish, and fishing opportunity... just give it a year or two and there will be plenty of parking

Might be sooner than "a year or two".

If the 2016 coho forecast is in the $h!tter like so many of us are expecting when they release it in about 2 months at NOF, opportunity will be slim to none in GH.

Still in the penalty box for chinook in 2016 since we will have failed to meet escapement goal in at least 3 of the previous 5 returns.

One fish bag for hatch coho? That's gonna be a hella-lotta sortin' when wilds are typically encountered at a rate of 4 or 5 : 1.

NOT gonna be pretty....

I thought I was kidding...


Gawd damn wdfw... they need to change their f'ng name to $w$d$f$w$

I believe there is a phase 2 to the 28th street ramp for next summer. It includes paving and taking out the tree row to add a few parking spaces including at least one or more handicap spaces.

What makes you think the forecast will be low? The track record is to use brood year escapement, which will have a better statistical reliability since the really poor return in '15 is an outlier. I am afraid that forecasts outside of Willapa will not be all that low.

Last year's outbound brood of coho smolts went out into a $h!tty warm ocean in 2015. Most of 'em didn't make it past their first summer at sea. This will be reflected in a poor 2016 return.

If the co-managers put out a rosy coho forecast in the next 2 months, they're lyin' thru their teeth.

You mean the beautiful flowering Kwanzan cherry trees along the west side of the road to the ramp?

Not disagreeing with you Doc, but the forecasts will show some nice fisheries scheduled.

See, they have no data to show that the smolts died. That is where the rub lies in all this.

A whole ago (decades) there was a forecast for GH based on smelt numbers (low) and one based on escapement (higher). Guesses as to which one was used in planning and scheduling.

It really wouldn't matter if the fisheries were scheduled based on current-year information on the fish themselves. But that would compromise all he coastal marine mixed-stock fisheries and that is a non-starter.

This thread started out describing the 28th street launch additions then switched to the failure of the Grays Harbor coho forecasts last fall. This comment is about the latter. My background is not fisheries or oceanography but the following is my take on things I have read over the past four decades.

I think eyeFISH’s post showing the Pacific Decadal Oscillation for the past 100 years shows a major factor in the salmon story. The data is about the North Pacific Ocean water temperature relative to the average temperature. The key part is the shift from a negative or cold ocean to a warm ocean in January 2014. The temperature itself is not relevant but it indicates the ocean circulation. When the ocean is cold it is because of the west coast upwelling of deep ocean water which contains dissolved iron. Iron is the scarce resource for the whole food chain. It is a key micro nutrient for algae growth and the start of the food chain that includes forage fish, salmon, killer whales, and their predators. In January 2014 the ocean circulation changed and the iron poor surface water caused the start of the collapse of the food chain.

Now consider the Chehalis coho as they start their journey to the ocean. They are subject to a number of stressors that impact their survival. The Satsop hatchery fish in particular arrive in the Chehalis to find hungry Northern Pike Minnows awaiting their arrival. Studies in the late 1980’s indicated 10-50% loss of the smolts to this predator alone. Add to that stress the 10 miles of frog water that loads the fish with bacterial kidney disease and you have fairly stressed fish arriving in salt water in April. They spend ten days or so in the harbor going through the change of life from conserving salt to being able to excrete salt. This has to be a major stressor that the fish have evolved with and can survive although a significant mortality occurs here. They are also dealing with the stress of a whole new array of birds and predators. Now back to the PDO. These highly stressed coho arrive at the ocean trying to figure out a new food source that just is not there in sufficient quantity. I believe this added stress is what caused the Grays Harbor (and other rivers) forecasts for coho to be so far off. The small return that did come back seemed to be smaller in size than I would expect. As these fish grew in size the forage fish part of the chain was also collapsing causing a continuing food stress. The fish I caught had the darkest orange meat that I can recall. This indicates to me that they had to change their food source to more crustaceans like shrimp.

I suspect that all fish that smolted in the spring of 2014 met a similar fate. A major concern is that the warm or poor ocean condition has continued at near record levels since January 2014. It was just as bad in 2015 when next years coho will be returning. In my view what ever is used to estimate run sizes will come up short again. In 2016 we should also see a shortage of three salt Chinook and in 2017 there should be a shortage of three and four salt Chinook. If the PDO stays positive for the next few months the 2017 coho will also tank. It may be time to sell the boat.

[quote=eyeFISH

You mean the beautiful flowering Kwanzan cherry trees along the west side of the road to the ramp?[/quote]

Maybe that cherry wood can be used to smoke all the paper fish, that we hear about at NOF ?????

HAPPY NEW YEAR ---- Hope 2016 is a better year in Region 6.....

Got this feeling paper fish will rule the day come March/April.

Hopefully the death of the blob will help soften the warming PDO trend's effects, although not sure whether that matters as much with near-shore migrators.

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