The Commissioners just voted unanimously against the conversion. They said as long as the Tribes say no transparency, then the answer is NO....(but keep asking)

Commissioner DAVID GRAYBILL actually said "they (us) should be petitioning the tribes, not the commission." REALLY!!! It's very clear the tribes really do run the DEPARTMENT AND THE COMMISSION.

SORRY GUYS, IT'S APPARENT NEITHER THE DEPARTMENT NOR THE COMMISSION HAS ANY AUTHORITY NOT GIVEN TO THEM BY THE TRIBES.

IF ALL IT TAKES IS FOR THE TRIBES TO SAY NO, AND THERE IS NO PUSHBACK AT ALL, THEN WE FEAR OUR TIME ON THE WATER IS INDEED SHORT.

THIS ENDS MY STRUGGLE, AT LEAST FOR ME. I CANNOT DEAL WITH DISHONEST AND UNTRUSTWORTHY MEN ANY LONGER.

WE GAVE IT A GOOD FIGHT, THANK YOU ALL.

This is truly disappointing news.

Are we gonna have to go to Tahola now to buy our licenses now that the state is selling out?

fp

Yea....just swing a little further North after you get a limit of clams, to get a license.

mmmmm, salmon now, how long on clam takeover ?????

Wow. Just wow. This makes me feel glum. It gives me no incentive to support the Department. (This is difficult considering how hard some of us have been working on restoring the Skagit steelhead season.)

At this point I see no reason for WA sport fishing license buyers and WA state taxpayers to support any General Fund appropriations to the Department whatever. I think I would support discontinuing about 90% of state funding for hatchery Chinook and coho. Why pay taxes to produce hatchery Chinook and coho primarily for AK, BC, NI commercial, and treaty fishing, with little to no non-treaty recreational angling?

Sg

Are we getting to the point (in my opinion we reached it years ago) where massive civil disobedience regarding the purchase of hunting and fishing licenses is warranted?

This board has had the same discussions for years without any substantial improvenment for the sportsman.

Maybe we need to think about other more political ways of protesting.

Since they've mentioned that they don't have enough money for enforcement (e.g. the Skagit fishery) then it wouldn't take very many people disobeying to make it impractical for them to enforce anything...

I've read a fair amount about civil disobedience and the idea of appealing to lesser magistrates. If such a movement were to come about with regard to our fisheries, we would be best served by having a lesser magistrates (an individual game warden, local elected official, etc.) lead the cause. If sport fisherman go rogue without any authorities helping, it won't go well. History tells us this.

Thank you for the months / perhaps years working on this issue Bay wolf. I too am disappointed but not at all surprised.

I quit fishing altogether in 2001 after being repeatedly lied to by the staff at region 5. What really pissed me off was how those pricks could look Harry in the eye, lie to his face and think he would not figure it out.

I guess the only bright spot in this whole mess is that in just a few very years, like five maybe, what recreational fishers have going on right now for salmon and steelhead will be remembered as " The Good Ol' Days " .......

Maybe us all going on strike is a better way to put it.

I certainly am not condoning fishing without a license anywhere...yet:)

I suspect the Commissioners recognize the legal frame work that constrain their actions. Pacific salmon management in North America is subject to the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The northwest treaty tribes have equal standing with the states. Look up the Pacific Salmon Treaty Article XI, Domestic Allocation. It is also worthwhile to look at the federal law pertaining to the implementation of the treaty in the United States. It is linked below. The struggle is not with the Commissioners or the tribes, it is with the US State Department who is responsible for negotiating the treaties and the congress that passes laws implementing them.


PACIFIC SALMON TREATY ACT OF 1985

Thanks for the tremendous effort Baywolf! I really thought that this would probably be a slam dunk. Like Salmo, I have to re-evaluate my relationship with WDFW.

The root of it may lie with the feds, but the state needs to make the approach. How do we do that? Quit buying licenses. Letters will be going out to my reps on Monday.

I just had a thought. I won't just automatically buy my license asap like usual. I think I'll wait until I need it...and that may not be until fall.
If a lot of folks do it, it could send a message on April 1st.

Unfortunately most the licenses bought in April are for the lowland lakes opener, usually get used a time or three for that, and then don't get used the rest of the year. Those people aren't on this forum, and aren't engaged with the politics of salmon and steelhead.

Fish on...

Todd

For those may be interested here is a link to the audio recording of todays conference call-

https://wdfw/wa.gov/commission/meetings/2018/02/audio_feb018.html

Yes it does such that we can not hear/see what is going on between the co-managers behind closed doors. However it would appear that federal law is on the tribe side not sure what options the State has.

Curt

This was my thought. If the state says "our meetings have to be open" and the tribes say "no thanks" and back out of meetings, who wins and who loses?

Last year showed us that tribes can get super-special-extra-quick federal approval while non-tribal fishermen sit at home. That's the fundamental problem with the co-management framework, as I see it.

What "Co-Management"?

I don’t necessarily agree...I think the right political statement that actually gets some publicity could go a long way and wouldn’t brand anyone.... Anyone remember the public outcry when the Makah hunted that whale back in 1999? If I recall correctly there was helicopter news coverage and lots of press. What if... just what if we had the same type of coverage of the overfishing that happened out in Forks this last fall that shut an entire river system down?

Our whole point to the masses would be to pay attention. We are protesting because something stinks....

We have been doing the same things trying to talk and negotiate ourselves a solution and it’s not working.... let’s try a different path.

maybe the sportsman should sue the state for lack of fair representation regarding good faith negotiations on the basis that WDFW is compromised the governors office is compromised and the AG's office is compromised. .

Maybe Todd would be willing to file the case for free?

The coverage of the Macah incident might have been because the Macahs may not contribute to legislators nor buy TV ads.

I agree 100%. Thank you for all your efforts. You guys worked hard and understandably are disappointed. This ain't the end of the world. Their is still fishing and will be fishing seasons. Just might not be the same as it has been.