Still alive underneath the spectre of “Salmageddon” is Occupy Skagit.

There is a plan in place for dealing with Puget Sound salmon when numbers increase. At this time, no such thing exists for Puget Sound wild steelhead. Even a record number of returning fish will not restore any angling opportunity...not even of the catch and release variety.

This is what Occupy Skagit is trying to change. Occupy Skagit stands for basin by basin management instead of one size fits all. The Skagit has a long history of conservative management and as a result still enjoys a viable run of wild steelhead. Past management policies included a C&R season and this is what we would like to see again when the run forecast exceeds conservation influenced escapement goals.

Join us this Saturday in Rockport at Howard Miller Steelhead Park to make a splash for your opportunity!

Any indications on the Skagit steelhead returns this year? I'm curious if the numbers are down like salmon are,

Early indications are that spawning numbers look similar to or maybe better than recent years.

Steelhead and coho migrate to very different parts of the ocean to feed; the coho stay mainly along the continental shelf while the steelhead migrate well off shore with some steelhead going beyond the international dateline. In the past there has been little correlation between coho and steelhead marine survivals.

The next big worry will be the Chinook survival and returns next two years (the smolts that produce those fish hit the ocean the same time that coho that didn't come back last year and are not expect to fair well this year). Those Chinook migrate somewhat differently than the coho but hit the ocean as smaller fish and do remain largely over the continental shelf.

Curt

Send those smolt to school.....teach them to "stay out of Alaska and BC waters", the returns would be much greater.

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear the Skagit steelhead are holding on. Good news for a change.