Occupy Skagit III

The last couple of springs we have gathered at Howard Miller Steelhead park in Rockport to show support for changing the management paradigm for wild Skagit Steelhead. Currently, all of Puget Sound Steelhead are considered by the ESA as one Distinct Population Segment (DPS) and as such are listed by them as threatened to become an endangered species.

The decision can be read here:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2007-05-11/pdf/E7-9089.pdf

The decision covers all of Puget Sound from the Elwah to the Canadian border, every piece of fresh water between these two points that dumps into the sound is affected by this listing. The health of each individual run is not considered on its own merit, but instead the entire area's steelhead are tainted with the aura of “nearing extinction”. While this may be true of many streams affected by the listing it is not true for all of them – the Skagit in particular continues to return healthy escapement numbers. These numbers can be seen to be fluctuating up and down in what many consider to be it's carrying capacity zone.

Scientists can argue over the numbers, their validity and what they mean but here they are in ten year increments:
1978 – 5,757 (the first year that I can find for WDFW escapement numbers)
1983 - 7,732
1993 - 6,900
2003 - 6,818
2013 – 8,800

Last season, 2014, the escapement was 8900+
The projection for 2015 is 9130.

The goal of Occupy Skagit is to restore the Catch and Release Steelhead season on the Skagit that used to run for Feb 1 – April 30.

In order for this season to be granted by NOAA and NMFS, a basin specific Steelhead Management Plan agreed upon by all parties, WDFW and Tribes, needs to be submitted and approved.

Is it possible?
Very much so!
Is it being done?
Well, not exactly. Although the major stockholders are all in verbal agreement that a C&R season will not impact the future of the run, apparently, no one is spearheading a mangement plan. This has to be unacceptable! We started this conversation with them two years ago!

Our goal this time around is to get this Skagit Steelhead management plan officially started. We need to have a WDFW employee attached to this plan. And we need it to happen now.

There is a new director in Olympia, and he needs to hear from Occupy Skagit. Send him and the Commissioners an email.Ask them who is in charge of writing the management plan and how to contact them/him about its progress. If you know how to contact any of the Commissioners personally, ask them the same questions. Push, push, push. Email: commission@dfw.wa.gov
Commission Website: http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/
We've never pushed an email campaign before but I think we need to now. Having met the commissioners several times, I know that a hand written letter to them will also go a long ways. Take five minutes out of your day and communicate with these officials.

The Commission hearing from you is the single most important thing you can do at this point.

There are two events scheduled; Rockport is fun, but the real deal is in Olympia.

Occupy Skagit III - April 4th 2015
Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport

Occupy Skagit Commissioners Meeting - April 10th 8:30 am
Natural Resources Building
1111 Washington St SE, Olympia, WA - First Floor, Room 172

The biologist that covers the Skagit River is Brett Barkdull and he can be reached at 425-775-1311 ext 270.

Decided to bump this before tomorrow....

I see there are 2 scheduled events, if anyone here know what time is everyone meeting on April 4th at Howard Miller Park? Thanks



(There are two events scheduled; Rockport is fun, but the real deal is in Olympia.

Occupy Skagit III - April 4th 2015
Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport

Occupy Skagit Commissioners Meeting - April 10th 8:30 am
Natural Resources Building
1111 Washington St SE, Olympia, WA - First Floor, Room 172)

Around 9am Craig.

I believe the big risk here is that since it will be THE only game in town in greater Pugetroplis, how do we keep Mother Skagit from being raped.... even if all mortality is limited to just C&R?

One of the big IF's in this whole thing is a way to limit individual encounters with steelhead.

The Forks experience is proving that recs are unable to limit themselves.

What makes the Skagit any different?

Eyefish

The are a number of area in which the Skagit and the management of its steelhead differ from that which you are familiar with on the OP.

First while the MSY escapement level is the touch stone for management the difference on the Skagit is that its escapement goal has a substantial buffer. Best estimates of Skagit MSY is something in the 3,000 to 4,000 range (depending on the time series used). The basin goal is 6,000 or 150 to 200% of MSY levels. While it still is not known what the approved fishing levels will be as a Skagit specific plan is developed most assume it will be at least as conservative as what was in place pre-2010. At that time not only was there a buffered escapement goal there was a cap on the total exploitation on the wild run.

What that cap meant was that on large runs the run was not fished down to the escapement goal. For most of the last 20 years that exploitation cap rate was 16%. On a large run say 10,000 the managers instead of fishing down to the escapement goal of 6,000 the total impacts were limited so that at a run of 10,000 the management expected to produce an escapement of 8,400.

In short with a buffered escapement goal and the cap on the total allowed impact rates the wild steelhead regardless of run size would be allowed to demonstrate what it can do.

In additionally unlike on the Fork area rivers the season on the Skagit does not carry well into the spawning season. Again pre-2010 the CnR season ended the end of April well before the peak of the wild winter steelhead (mid-May). Finally the traditional spring Skagit/Sauk CnR season covered only approximately 25% of the 290 miles of steelhead spawning habitat found in the basin.

In short for decades the Skagit/Sauk steelhead have been one of most conservatively managed wild winter steelhead populations in the State. Perhaps the only real danger with re-establishing the Skagit/Sauk CnR season is that folks might expect such conservative management elsewhere in the state.

Curt

Eyefish- alos there are sections and tribs not open giving some relief.

Doubt exploitation on the mighty Skagit will be a problem at all. BK's correct, lots of tributaries, big water, no catch and keep, and steelhead don't bite all the time as many of us can attest.
Thanks to all that attend!

This...



...and this...



With a very late "true spring" spawn timing for the bulk of the run, and so much of the watershed completely off limits to fishing, the Skagit is a unique steelhead fishery.

We *used* to be able to fish over ocean fresh fish right into the end of April.

With no fishing under power, no fishing with bait/barbs, and no directed sport kill fishery, the Skagit system is also unique when compared to west end streams. While the overall amount of fishermen on the west end has skyrocketed for a few reasons, it's amazing the amount of anglers who have to fish below 101 because they feel they can't catch a fish without bait, or may want to kill one. Those anglers won't find any solace in the Skagit opening other than to see the pressure on the west end streams lessen some.

Fish on...

Todd

Todd or whomever, why everytime we talk about this topic, does it have to be "no fishing under power"?

I have no bias as I have a drift boat and a sled. It just seems like the Skagit in particular is a large river and could handle sled traffic even in a selective gear rules season?

There are lots of sleds on the Skagit, and they can be used for transportation, or fished out of while drifting...just not while the motor is running.

I have buddies that have long oars on their sleds and row to keep the boat straight as they side drift...looks like a lot of work to me

My last post was just outlining what the regulations were last time the Skagit was open in the spring, not a recommendation or comment about what they should be or what others might want them to be...just noting the longstanding and last standing regs.

Fish on...

Todd

The "no fishing under power" rule has long been in effect during C&R season on the Skagit system. This needn't even be a topic of discussion, especially if WDFW enforcement officers would have actually done their job in enforcing it.

As for the potential re-opening of the Skagit/Sauk C&R season - it will absolutely be short lived if even more stringent rules than the ones that were already in place, aren't adopted.
No fishing from any floating device on the Sauk, limited guide participation, and individual pay to play permitting with all collected monies directed to in-basin restoration efforts and additional enforcement presence, would be ideal places to start.

We'd all like to see the leisurely spring days of racking up numbers by dragging drift gear or bobber-cating out of the DB or raft in the Mill Drift returned to us. But it isn't going to last without a little restraint, either self-imposed (or most likely), state implemented.

I'm not at all attempting to wet blanket OS efforts. It just seems that through those efforts an opportunity now exists, for the steelhead fishing fraternity as a whole, to have a say in what a long lasting, quality angling experience will be. Or we can continue nitpicking to suit our own individual agendas, and resume watching the Skagit go the way of every other lost steelhead fishing opportunity in PS.

Thank you WW and all others actively involved in the OS movement.

Really hoping for a new C&R season on the Skagit. It sounds like the previous regulations were sufficient to protect the fish. My hope would be that the fishery would be popular and that it would prove that C&R fishing is an effective management tool for maximizing opportunity. It would be nice to see something similar on a river that doesn't get netted, so we could get an honest figure on C&R mortality (one that isn't skewed by "foregone opportunity" harvest).

Just to step out of character for a minute, you guys spouting that pay to play bull$hit had better watch out or you're going to get what you're asking for. When you realize that "pay to play" actually meant you'd simply have to pay more for the same experience, you might not be so glad you suggested it. I know we're Capitalists, but come on people, money can't fix everything.

FF2,

Paying to play along with actual, competent enforcement and angler involvement pertaining to how and what rules will be implemented and enforced, absolutely will not yield the same experience as the current one, because there isn't a current experience being had on the Skagit...

I'm not asking for money to fix everything, I'm asking for it to help to stem the tide of further degrading everyone's steelhead fishing experience, when and if the fishery is reopened.

Regardless of the rhetoric that is being spat forth on internet forums presently, in regards to how there is no indication that the Skagit system will see any increased pressure, than what was experienced prior to 2009, is total BS.

I think you're right, What - if they re-open the Skagit, it will probably be more crowded than before, and that's actually what I would hope for, not because I want crowded conditions, but because I'm interested to see some good evidence that C&R is an effective way to manage an endangered resource. If that success story happened on the Skagit, we'd likely start seeing proposals to manage the OP rivers (and others) in kind.

I guess the main reason I don't think we want pay to play management (besides the fact that it promotes elitism) is that there are an alarming number of people on these same Internet boards chirping about how they'll be willing to pony up. If they do pony up in the numbers being threatened, you'll find yourself fishing in the same crowds, and you'll have about $300 (per fishery) less beer money to drown your sorrows after yet another skunking.

The other problem I see with limiting access (no matter how that's done) is that it punishes the wrong people. Did sport fishing contribute more to the decline of wild steelhead than the tribal and commercial user groups? More than development in the critical watersheds? If not, then why should we always be the ones whose opportunity gets reduced or becomes more expensive? Oh... I just remembered... those other users (at least the non-tribal ones) are doing their pay to play thing in the halls of the Legislature. I guess that explains it. Carry on....

When was there a non tribal commercial fishery on Skagit steelhead?

Good catch, Keta. I don't know of any non-tribal commercial fisheries directed at steelhead. I'm making an assumption that chronic, prolonged overharvest of salmon (by interests both tribal and non) has depleted stream nutrients to levels that make it impossible to sustain large populations of steelhead (or most anything else). While I can't be sure that's true, I am pretty sure it wasn't hook and line fishing that wiped them out, hence the assertion that limiting sport opportunity punishes the wrong people.

I have a tenancy for nitpicking statements for being factually correct even when I agree with what is said in general. The opposition usually jumps on false statements presented as facts and blows them way out of proportion. Sorry for going OCD on you.

My bad, I had a temple expander and thought I was talking to myself earlier today.

My apologies to _WW_ for temporarily hijacking his thread. The best of luck to OS.

Backtrollin,

Fisheries that come under the Selective Fishing Regulations state "no fishing from a boat equipped with a motor." The WDFW Commission made an exception to that part of the regulation for the Skagit CNR season because the Wildcat Steelhead Club asked for it. Traditional Skagit style boondogging occurs with the motor off and the boat guided with a long pair of sweeps or oars. The CNR fishery occurred from 1981 through 2009 with no adverse effects to the wild steelhead population due to fishing. That's the background.

Occupy Skagit requests that the traditional Skagit-Sauk CNR season be re-instated with the traditional regulations. Under the precautionary principle and be careful of what you wish for, we urge all OS supporters to refrain from suggesting regulatory alternatives. WDFW and the Commission are very well aware that it is within their purview to further restrict the fishery if necessary for conservation or to avoid being inconsistent with recovery.

What,

When the Skagit re-opens I expect an initial increase in fishing pressure that will fade when anglers discover "it ain't all that." Anglers will return for the novelty of re-experiencing what has been a lost opportunity for five years. And newbie wannabes will come because of the reputation of the Skagit and are personally skunked, contrary to the expectations based on magazine and internet lore.

FF02,

Contrary to some opinions, the Skagit steelhead are not endangered. Not even threatened, except by association with the rest of the PS populations. Did you know that if all of the Skagit basin were north of the 49th parallel, it would be the healthiest wild steelhead population in southern British Columbia? It also would not be closed to fishing, but it would be CNR, barbless hooks, no bait, and probably no fishing from boats - BC is like that.

Both treaty and non-treaty fishing contributed to the decline of wild steelhead in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but that changed with fishing patterns and regulations beginning in the mid to late 1970s. Fishing has not been a factor affecting the abundance of Skagit wild steelhead since 1978, and the data, i.e., the best available scientific information supports that conclusion.

OS requests and appreciates all support for re-instatement of the tradtional CNR Skagit-Sauk fishery. Please leave all personal agendas at the door.

Sg

Sg:

Yup. I read back over my post and immediately noticed that rather significant word choice error. I realize they aren't endangered, and I certainly don't advocate any fishing targeted at endangered fish.

I've looked smarter... I hope.

"Regardless of the rhetoric that is being spat forth on internet forums presently, in regards to how there is no indication that the Skagit system will see any increased pressure, than what was experienced prior to 2009, is total BS."

I'm sure there will be more people - simply because there IS more people. But when you talk about "increased pressure" that's going to be more experienced by the angler than the fish.

One thing is for certain, there will be scrutiny. And with today's technology mixed with angler cooperation it could be unprecedented - and I mean that in a good way.

A lot of people are putting in a lot of hard work to bring this fishing opportunity back. There will always be a few selfish, mindless, SOBs on the river. The best defense against that is to let our voices and actions be louder than theirs.

All I have to say is this looks like sports fishers validation of MSY as a management model. That is to exploit any fish returning above minimum escapement goals. Make it pretty hard to complain about other user groups doing this.

You may have missed the part where the escapement goal on the Skagit is 2 to 3 times the MSY value.

Fish on...

Todd

I see your point, Keta, but MSY is a catch and kill paradigm, so while we're probably not talking apples and oranges here, I think we might be talking, say, apples and pears. Close, but with some important distinctions.

In theory, a vast majority of encounters in C&R fisheries do not result in mortalities. Of course, some (generally those who would rather directly harvest any available fish themselves for profit) argue that the mortality is much higher than the few percent C&R advocates apply. Whatever it is, learning the truth should be very valuable in determining the validity of C&R fisheries as a means of providing opportunity without posing excessive danger to wild fish, and I think it's time we tried. If it were as successful as many of us believe it would be, it would demonstrate that C&R fisheries are a legitimate option where catch and kill fisheries can't be responsibly executed (on the much more crowded of late OP rivers, for example). If not, we could say we tried, lump C &R in with all the other failed strategies, and move on (permanently close all sport fisheries for wild steelhead). Obviously, none of us want that, but while I have argued that pay to play and outright closures punish the wrong people, I value the long-term survival of wild steelhead more than I value my ability to fish for them.

I fully recognize that any flavor of fishing has an impact, and while I strongly suspect that impact is much less in a C&R fishery, if we learn otherwise (using science; not anyone's made up numbers), I'll admit I'm wrong and hang up my gear if that's what it comes to.

I did see escapement was around 2X but not 3X escapement. I know there has to be a line drawn somewhere on when to open fishing . I'm just wondering how this will open the door for the tribes to take a bigger bite. The plunker/bonkers will start whining. Slippery slope so to speak. Maybe I'm being overly conservative but this is the last "healthy " steelhead run in the area and would like to see a little longer track record of being "healthy" and increasing numbers before we all start drooling over exploiting these fish. Just another opinion.

In 20 plus years of steelheading I've never seen a wild fish floating upside down. Just sayin-

And once we close these fisheries we have put the final nail in their coffin. Too many young steelheaders only know of bonking hatchery fish in front of the hatchery. Once all native fishing is closed then there will only be the memory of a few old farts left and once we die there will be no one left to fight for them because they wont know what they are fighting for! Or what they have lost!

And the best way to turn that mentality is to provide the experiance of releasing a teener Sauk hen. Without that experience in hand why would the next generation not want them extinct so they can build more hatcheries for more bonking. All the words in the world can't convey the message as well as simply looking eyeball to eyeball at a chromer Nate!!!!

Keta,

The Yellowstone River in YNP has been CNR since 1973. Do you think the National Park Service is managing Yellowstone cutthroat trout for MSY? We're talking about river ecosystems that are producing fish at their natural carrying capacities, albeit the Yellowstone is near pristine and the Skagit, not so much. If you don't allow CNR (CNR, no less, we're not talking about full tilt boogie wild fish bonking here) when the population is at least 150% of it MSY escapement, when, if ever, do you? 200%? 300%? Based on what? That it's a bigger number and unrelated to the basin's carrying capacity?

Either adopt reasonable and rational management objectives and standards or lock it up and make it a museum/zoo.

The bite that the tribes want is for the steelhead ESA listing to not limit their salmon fishing, which it does to some extent presently. Did you miss the part about limiting total impacts to 16% of the larger runsizes? That's a slippery slope that more steelhead should be managed for. The plunkers and bonkers can whine all they want, but the train they are looking for left the station in the last century, and it isn't making a return run. Yeah, shoulda' been born in earlier times.

Sg

I'd like to see the Skagit steelhead left alone to do their thing. There will be mortality even in a C&R fishery and those are precious fish that won't spawn.

Blktailhunter,

What makes a Skagit steelhead more precious than any other wild steelhead? Every one knows that there is incidental mortality associated with CNR fishing, and over 30 years of data shows that not only CNR, but some limited direct harvest fishing on Skagit steelhead has had ZERO affect on the adult population abundance. This means that not fishing has done nothing to increase population abundance.

And the data show very clearly that larger escapements greater than 8,000 don't result in subsequent larger runsizes. No matter how much we might want to believe it will happen, the data show again and again that it doesn't. That's a pretty clear indicator of habitat carrying capacity at present marine survival rates. Skagit native steelhead are as healthy as it is possible for them to be under contemporary environmental conditions. Opposition to restoring the CNR season can only be emotionally based, because it's sure not based on science.

Sg

You make a convincing argument as usual. My opinion is based in years of watching Wa.State manage fisheries into oblivion so my confidence in reasonable and rational management objectives and standards is cynical, I hope I'll be proven wrong on this one.

1964 - 1965 Winter season, for Skagit Rv. was:

1. Skagit was the number 1 winter run river in Washington State..

2. From punch card data...... 20,030

This comes from a publication, "Gordie Frear's Fishing Northwest Fishing Guide and Hunting Guide" that I bought at Warshal's .....Most wouldn't even know that the store was in Seattle....address was ..First and Madison...................Long gone, like so many things from that era.

Days of old were good fishing times.....can't even think how fishing in the 60's would have been with "new rods, reels, lines, lures, etc." of today.

People want to see the Skagit left alone but have no problem fishing over mixed stocks in the ocean or Puget Sound. Releasing shakers or wild fish that may be returning to a river or stream where the forecast return is maybe a couple hundred fish. What's the mortality rate of salmon CnR'd in the salt....? It's not an inconsequential figure.

Brood nailed it when he said there'll be nobody who gives a rats azz about these fish after the fisheries have been closed a substantial period of time.

Get it all... First steelhead I ever caught was a teener hen on the Sauk! Oh I got it alright! Fished way to many places to not get it :-) Wish my grandsons and great grandsons get to enjoy that incredible experience! Occupy Skagit? Hell Yes! >>>>Be There Or Be Square!

I would venture to say that since the Skagit/Sauk closed to the late season CNR that more fish have died from poachers than would have during a CNR season. Fishermen on the river reduces poaching.

Agree with JG.

No eyes on the river means wild fish are being harvested, but not accounted for.

This is a really interesting thread. Thanks to the participants for taking the time to reply.

This:



And...this:



Both are true.

The Official Sauk Poacher Season used to start in May...now it starts in February.

Fish on...

Todd

OS III drew its largest crowd of supporters yet. Thanks to everyone who showed up. The symbolic support matters. We have two new Commissioners and a new WDFW Director who need to learn what OS is about and why it makes sense for the Department to pursue re-opening the Skagit-Sauk CNR steelhead season.

It was a fine morning to wet a hookless line in the Skagit. It could only have been topped by fishing for real.

Sg

wish i could have been there. work today. support this 100%.

Thanks for all who showed up today as my plans collapsed for me unfortunately and I was unable to attend! TY Salmo g. for the update tonight too!!

It must have been a spectacular morning up there today!

Onward and Upward!

A great turnout! Thanks to every one that took the time to make it up to Rockport. It's humbling to see how many folks will show up on a closed river in support of the effort to open it to CnR fishing. We got support from a few angling organizations, Trout Unlimited, Wild Steelheaders United, and the Wild Steelhead Coalition, and I want to thank them and their members that showed up.



This coming Friday, the 10th is the Commissioners meeting in Olympia. The details again:
Occupy Skagit Commissioners Meeting - April 10th 8:30 am
Natural Resources Building
1111 Washington St SE, Olympia, WA - First Floor, Room 172
The main message to WDFW at this time is simple; Get the Skagit Steelhead Management Plan finished and get it submitted to the NMFS/NOAA. Along with that message should be a request for them to take an aggressive stance with the feds regarding the approval process and the length of time they spend getting it done.
Three years and counting...