WDFW settles with the Wild Fish Conservancy and...

[jackelope]

...pretty much ends recreational steelhead fishing on the Snoqualmie River. Boooo....

http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/apr0114c/

The Skykomish will be the only puget sound river getting hatchery  fish.

[CAMPMEAT]

...pretty much ends recreational steelhead fishing on the Snoqualmie River. Boooo....

http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/apr0114c/

The Skykomish will be the only puget sound river getting hatchery  fish.

I hope you know who your neighbors are..................

[snowpack]

 
Means the people that do want to fish will crowd into smaller and smaller areas.  Might get as bad as that Alaskan combat fishing.

[Bullkllr]

...pretty much ends recreational steelhead fishing on the Snoqualmie River. Boooo....

http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/apr0114c/

The Skykomish will be the only puget sound river getting hatchery  fish.

Not seeing anything about a settlement in that link...

[jackelope]

...pretty much ends recreational steelhead fishing on the Snoqualmie River. Boooo....

http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/apr0114c/

The Skykomish will be the only puget sound river getting hatchery  fish.

Not seeing anything about a settlement in that link...

Phil Anderson said WDFW leaders made the “very difficult” decision last week under the threat of litigation by the Conservancy, a non-profit group based in Duvall, Wash. In late January, the group filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the department over its management of early winter (Chambers Creek) steelhead hatchery programs.


........“It’s in everyone’s best interest to quickly reach an agreement that will promote the recovery of Puget Sound steelhead and provide for tribal and recreational fisheries,” Scott said. “Going to court would force us to redirect our staff to defend our programs in litigation, rather than focusing on conservation and restoration of Puget Sound steelhead.”



Maybe settlement was the wrong word. Maybe "crumbled to special interest yet again" would have been more appropriate.

[Fl0und3rz]

SOP

http://www.freedomworks.org/content/sue-and-settle-how-epa-removes-power-states-and-hands-it-environmental-groups

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/18/lawsuit-challenges-feds-over-sue-and-settle-tactics-on-endangered-species/

[MarkyMark]

"WDFW will pay the Conservancy $45,000 for litigation expenses"... That's the real ball-slapper here. You can sue the WDFW and get us to pay for it. Not Right. Not one bit.

[snowpack]

Heard it was paid from the revenues from freshwater fishing licenses.

[Wingin it]

Disaster!!! Pressure on the Skykomish was bad enough without the state turning it into the goat rodeo it will be now. I guess we are supposed to be happy that they saved us a token feel good fishery. I noticed that they won't increase plants to compensate for the added pressure. What a f'n joke WDFW! We should collectively sue the department for not doing their fricken jobs!

[MtnMuley]

Phil Anderson ain't nothin' but a puppet on a string. The sooner we rid his a$$, the better!

[Special T]

I must be missing some thing, i don;t fish so excuse my ignorance.
In order to raise steel heads didn't they just use harvested eggs for steel head in the area, then raise and release them? Are they really genetically different?

On a separate note, wasn't there a program that tried to spread salmon carcases on the rivers to help promote cadis fly growth?

[Stickerbush]

I must be missing some thing, i don;t fish so excuse my ignorance.
In order to raise steel heads didn't they just use harvested eggs for steel head in the area, then raise and release them? Are they really genetically different?

On a separate note, wasn't there a program that tried to spread salmon carcases on the rivers to help promote cadis fly growth?

Lots of groups spread salmon carcasses but I thought it was primarily on smaller tributaries. And to bring nutrients back into the soil of forests, but could benefit caddis fly as well. They would usually get spawned out carcasses from hatcherys to do this

[jackelope]

180K fish into the Sky, nothing for the Nooksack, Skagit, Stilliguamish, Snoqualmie and Dungeness Rivers. The Sky should be fun if you're into goat rodeo'ing.

Does this eliminate nets on the Skagit? 1 potential bright side, although small in comparison?

How many fishing guides will this run out of business?

[Elkaholic daWg]

"WDFW will pay the Conservancy $45,000 for litigation expenses"... That's the real ball-slapper here. You can sue the WDFW and get us to pay for it. Not Right. Not one bit.

 Called "sue and settle" Greenies and their lawyers have been doing it for decades.  And our governments are just happy to cave. Congress can change the litigation cost to the litigants and that would help immensely.

[justyhntr]

This whole argument is BS . There are no more true native fish ! The state has been planting hatchery fish since there early 1900 , if the hatchery fish  are not caught they spawn .  Hatchery fish and native fish have been cross breading for years , the true native genetics are compromised and gone . This settlement will have a bigger impact on the so called native fish then releasing hatchery fish . Over the years we have been producing millions of fish for recreational and commercial harvest and by doing so we have been feeding the predators , fish eating birds , seals and so on . Their numbers have increased based on overall hatchery production . Now we are going to take that away , leaving only the so called native fish for them to eat. The end result will be NO FISH !  I do find it ironic that the groups that are pushing this are the same groups that helped bring back the searun cutthroat , and now they are putting them in jeopardy as the seals search out new food sources . These groups may have good intentions but they refuse to see the big picture and the long term effect it will have . I believe this is the death nail in Puget Sound Steelhead fishing , will the last driftboat down please turn out the lights.