A short video on this and an easy way to send a quick message to Seafood Watch:
http://bit.ly/wildsteelheadhttps://vimeo.com/207426362Take OP Wild Steelhead Off The Menu​
Seafood Watch claims wild steelhead harvested from the Olympic Peninsula are a “Good Alternative”. The data says otherwise. Take action here.
Wild steelhead are engrained with a resilience that enables them to survive the litany of obstacles mankind throws in their path. But their resilience has its limits and some obstacles prove to be insurmountable.
Recently, Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch – a guide for helping consumers make sustainable fish choices – threw such an obstacle in their path when they designated wild steelhead from Washington’s coast as a sustainable fish choice, labeling it a “Good Alternative”. This designation could be the nail in the coffin for the sharply declining wild steelhead populations in famed Olympic Peninsula rivers like the Hoh, Queets, and Bogachiel.
This designation means that increasingly threatened populations of wild steelhead can be sold nationwide in stores like Whole Foods Market as a sustainable food choice. Nothing could be further from the truth because for decades these wild steelhead populations have been returning at a fraction of historic abundance and declines have accelerated in recent years.
According to data from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, wild steelhead populations on the Olympic Peninsula experienced as much as a 50 percent decline in numbers since 1980. Iconic rivers such as the Quillayute, Hoh and Bogachiel experienced some of the lowest returns on record in 2016. Today, these populations are on the verge of being listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Recently, sport fishermen sacrificed their harvest rights and adopted less impactful fishing practices because they know wild steelhead are on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, many tribes harvesting wild steelhead with gillnets refuse to implement stricter harvest plans, catch monitoring guidelines, or more responsible fishing practices for these nearly endangered fish.
It is absurd that Seafood Watch and their partners such as Whole Foods Market would label these fisheries a “Good Alternative”. Not only does this label threaten these famed wild steelhead populations, but it also misleads well-intentioned consumers who will unknowingly purchase a threatened icon spiraling towards an endangered listing.
We respect tribal treaty rights to responsibly harvest salmon and steelhead when abundance allows. However, the long-term decline of wild runs, their current dire state, and the use of non-selective methods such as gillnets make it grossly inappropriate for these wild steelhead fisheries to be labeled as "sustainable".
Please take action and encourage your friends and family to do the same because if we don’t fight for wild steelhead today, this iconic fish may be gone tomorrow.
To read the full Seafood Watch report from February 2017 that includes their allegations that wild steelhead harvested from the Olympic Peninsula are a “Good Alternative”, click here.