There is some interesting inclusions in the latest WDFW News Release.

Pay close attention to the two paragraphs with the large font and bolded:

Plenary Meetings and Conference Calls.

Lorrain Loomis agreed to hold a plenary meeting as a method to increase transparency. Although Ron Warren agreed that the details of plenary meetings would be shared with the public before any such meetings were agreed to, once again, the department lied! I can tell you, what Lorraine proposed is the tribal representative giving us a lecture on the cultural value of salmon. It included absolutely nothing about increased transparency or open meetings.

Conference calls; Now we need to ask, just what is going to be "shared" with the stakeholders. We already found out with the RMP that the department WILL NOT release ANY INFORMATION that the tribes do not want them to release, so why should we "TRUST" the department to give us anything other than more BS.

How does the saying go? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!

I don't know about you guys, but I see right through this BS! They are again trying to make it look like they are making things more transparent when in reality, they are just feeding us more BS in hope we let off the pressure!

Hey Ron, Brad and Commissioners, Why don't you just put a live video feed in these meetings like the Open Public Meeting Act tells you to, instead of extra meetings and calls. Saving money, time and potential law suits!

oh...that's right.....the tribes won't let you....




WDFW NEWS RELEASE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
http://wdfw.wa.gov/

February 16, 2018
Contact: Kyle Adicks, 360-902-2664

Public can participate in 2018 salmon season-setting process, rule simplification

OLYMPIA – State fishery managers have scheduled a variety of opportunities for the public to participate in setting salmon fishing seasons for 2018, beginning at the annual salmon forecast meeting Feb. 27.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will present initial forecasts compiled by state and tribal biologists of the 2018 salmon returns at the meeting scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Lacey Community Center, 6729 Pacific Ave. S.E., Olympia.

That meeting is one of more than 20 scheduled at various locations around the state as part of each year's salmon negotiations. A list of the meetings scheduled in 2018 can be found online at https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/northfalcon/

State fishery managers will be relying on input from anglers, commercial fishers and others interested in salmon as they work to develop this year's fisheries, said Ron Warren, head of WDFW's fish program.

Additionally, fishery managers plan to discuss with the public ways to simplify salmon-fishing regulations, said Warren. Over the last two years, WDFW has been working to simplify regulations after hearing from the public that the state's fishing rules are too complex.

"It's really important for us to hear what the public has to say about salmon fisheries," Warren said. "I encourage people to get involved and share their ideas on fishing opportunities and ways we can simplify the rules for anglers."

In addition to attending meetings, other ways the public can participate include:

Online comments: The public can provide comments on fisheries and rule simplification through an online commenting tool as salmon seasons are developed. The online tool will be available in the coming weeks on WDFW's website at https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/northfalcon/

Plenary session: This year, the co-managers have agreed to invite the public to an informal discussion, which is tentatively scheduled to follow a state-tribal negotiating session in early April. Meeting information will be posted on the website listed above.

Conference calls and daily briefings: During the final days of negotiations, state fish managers will hold multiple briefings each day with the public as well as conference calls with constituents who can't attend.
State salmon managers scheduled these opportunities under guidance from the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, a citizen panel appointed by the governor that sets policy for WDFW. Commissioners have instructed WDFW staff to continue to work with their tribal co-managers to make the season-setting process as transparent as possible.

The annual process of setting salmon fishing seasons is called "North of Falcon" and is held in conjunction with public meetings conducted by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC). The council is responsible for establishing fishing seasons in ocean water three to 200 miles off the Pacific coast.

The PFMC is expected to adopt final ocean fishing seasons and harvest levels at its April 6-11 meeting in Portland, Ore. The 2018 salmon fisheries package for Washington's inside waters is expected to be completed by the state and tribal co-managers during the PFMC's April meeting.



Persons with disabilities who need to receive this information in an alternative format or who need reasonable accommodations to participate in WDFW-sponsored public meetings or other activities may contact Dolores Noyes by phone (360-902-2349), TTY (360-902-2207), or email (dolores.noyes@dfw.wa.gov). For more information, see http://wdfw.wa.gov/accessibility/reasonable_request.html.

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