I'd like to better understand who has the responsibilty for monitoring the tribal and commercial net harvests in Washington rivers. I'm thinking that the buyers must report purchases to someone in Olympia, who then monitors the totals against a prediction set by the biologists. This same protector of the resource must then watch the sports catch using some magical formula to ensure the 50/50 split is achieved. The hatchery managers must also be a player along with the enforcers of the ESA. I'm sure its pretty complicated and I'll be interested to see if the catch allocations have ever erred in the favor of sportsmen.

If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. I'm going to start by looking at some of the "Ban the Nets" iniative rhetoric.

p.s. I'm really impressed by some of the discussions on this board.

Retriever,

You've got the general idea. Commercial fish sales are reported on the state fish ticket system (except Quinault, who have their own system, I believe), and the fish buyers send a copy of the tickets to WDFW in Oly. To speed up the process, port samplers visit each buyer every day during the season and tally the catches and phone,fax, or email them to Oly. That is called the provisional, or soft, data. It is sometimes incomplete and therefore subject to revision. The catches are monitored, usually on a daily basis also, by the harvest managers at WDFW and the tribes. The feds have a role in setting seasons that deal with inter-state and international fisheries, but leave the day to day management to the state and tribes, so I don't think they monitor the daily catches.

The hatchery managers' jobs are to rear and release fish; they have very little role in harvest management, other than perhaps to report that they aren't getting enough fish back to their hatcheries in some years.

Salmon sport fishing is a management consideration in planning ocean and Puget Sound fisheries. It is mostly coincidental for freshwater fisheries. If there are predicted to be harvestable fish left in a run when it reaches the rivers, and after the treaty share is deducted, then freshwater salmon fishing is scheduled. I don't know that the advance planning by any agency proposes management actions for the purpose of assuring in-river sport fishing.

For most salmon species, the in-river sport harvest, even if it was planned as the number one management priority, would take a very small fraction of nearly every salmon run. I think it is for that reason that it just isn't on the management radar screen. The vast majority of the state's salmon harvest is taken commercially, second by salt water recreational fishing, so those are the main management planning considerations. Lake WA sockeye is the only notable exception that comes to mind.

And since in-river sports harvest is typically last in line (in-river treaty being second to last) these are the fisheries most likely to be shut down as an emergency response when runs come in under the escapement goal - since it's too late to undo the marine harvests that have already taken place.

So if you were thinking that in-river sport fishing is sucking hind t!#, that is why. If it's any consolation, many of the tribes used to be in that situation, but through court action, they got their fisheries into the pre-season management planning - they attend the north of Falcon hearings and so forth - and so marine fishing is generally restricted to specifically ensure that harvestable salmon make it back to their river fisheries. And they sometimes get exceptions to fish into the escapement if estimation errors allow over-fishing prior to the treaty fishery. Of course, two wrongs don't make a right, but that's the management deal that is sometimes cut.

Welcome to late 20th and early 21st century fish management: "how to divy up the crumbs."

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Thanks Salmo g,

Given the resource pressures its sort of amazing there is a return at all. The poor little anadromous guys would be flattered and/or astounded at all the effort and the numbers of people that want to kill them. And all they have is an intense desire to spawn.

These North of Falcon Hearings: Is this where the big boys play? I once hung out with a commercial fisherman who donated $10000 a year to a local association that represented their interests. And he didn't even fish instate!