Final Decision for Five Early Winter Steelhead ...

Suck it WFC!

http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/hatcheries/pshatcheries/ps_ews_final.html

I agree, eat a big brown not trout.

Finally, some good news!

Fishy

Wonder if WFC will sue NMFS for its decision? If so, they'd have to argue the science instead of procedure.

They almost have to sue. If they don't, they as much as admit the science is not there to support their position.

It isn't unusual for lawsuits derived by these kind of decisions.

Odds against petitioners.

Can WFC get an injunction from a judge to stop implementation of the plans?

This came from the WDFW news release about the settlement in 2014. Without the actual agreement to look at, these two points seem to contradict themselves. WDFW could under the second point release those fish immediately and it would have been a good idea to release them over this weekend unless there was a constraint not listed in the news release. Then if there is a challenge these fish are doing their thing as intended and not being planted again this year in lakes.

• The Conservancy will not sue WDFW over its Puget Sound hatchery programs during the next 2 ½ years, or until NMFS approves those programs, whichever comes first.

• The department may release hatchery steelhead into other rivers around Puget Sound when NMFS approves the department's HGMPs. This provision will not apply to the Skagit River watershed, which will not receive early winter hatchery steelhead releases during the 12-year study period.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/apr2514b/

WFC could seek an injunction or TRO (temporary restraining order), but it takes a few days for that to happen. If I were WDFW I would release those hatchery steelhead smolts prior to that trigger.

Sg

Hope those trucks are ready to roll early Monday morning! Maybe even a couple good honks of the horn as they roll thru Duvall.

As far as trucks rolling, I don't think that will happen as these fish would all be scheduled for on-station releases rather than outplanting. The 4d decision also stipulates that the fish will be volitionally released rather than forced out of ponds, so they could start the releases now (restricted to no sooner than April 15th by the decision) but the fish have to leave the pond on their own.

I did't believe it, but it's true. WDFW has started releasing smolts. Go suck it WFC!

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

April 19, 2016

Contact: Kelly Cunningham, (360) 902-2325

WDFW hatcheries releasing steelhead under newly approved federal permits

OLYMPIA – State fishery managers have begun releasing more than 500,000 juvenile steelhead from five state fish hatcheries into Puget Sound rivers after receiving word from NOAA-Fisheries that those facilities meet federal environmental standards.

For the past two years, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has released steelhead from those five hatcheries into area lakes to ensure they wouldn’t interfere with wild steelhead protected by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).

That action resulted from a legal agreement with the Wild Fish Conservancy, which stipulated that WDFW would not release steelhead smolts into area rivers until NOAA-Fisheries determined that its hatchery operations comply with the federal law.

Now that WDFW has received the necessary federal permits, the department is again releasing smolts that will migrate to the ocean and return as adult steelhead after two years, said Kelly Cunningham, deputy assistant director of WDFW’s Fish Program.

“We are pleased that NOAA-Fisheries agrees our hatchery plans are scientifically sound,” Cunningham said. “This means that we can again produce fish for harvest in fisheries throughout Puget Sound.”

WDFW hatcheries in northern Puget Sound currently releasing hatchery smolts include:

Wallace Creek, 27,600
Reiter Ponds, 140,000
Whitehorse, 130,000
Kendall Creek, 150,000
Tokul Creek, 74,000

NOAA-Fisheries also approved a permit allowing the Dungeness Hatchery to release 10,000 steelhead smolts on the Olympic Peninsula, but those releases will take place in mid-May due to the timing of the run, Cunningham said.

***************

Fish on...

Todd

With the dearth of PS fishing opportunity the past couple of years, those rivers are gonna be a chit show when those fish return.

im sure we will still only get to fish right up til they show.