WDFW and ODFW to undo the Columbia R gillnet reforms?

[huntnphool]

Amazing that this is the only river in the World that is still commercially netted.

Wrong...... Chehalis River still commercially netted, Willapa River, still commercially netted, Yukon River, still commercially netted, Deep River, still commercially netted, Fraser River, still commercially netted, Youngs Bay still commercially netted. Naknek River still commercially netted. Copper River, still commercially netted. Kuskokwim River, still commercially netted.

 Are all those rivers netted, or are the mouths of the rivers netted?

[SkookumHntr]

Never a better time to join CCA, there fighting for us recreational fisherman!

[huntnnw]

what a complete joke for our fisheries!  sad day for anglers who pursue these fish

[Sitka_Blacktail]

That's some crazy talk right there. Would the non-Tribal gillnetting season coincide with the Tribal gillnetting season? Once quotas are reached then all nets come out? Personally, I would rather see an escapement quota reached for each run and then allow gillnetting.

Agreed. And one thing I will say, Washington sets their escapement quotas way too low. Possibly because there are so many users squabbling over the crumbs. The other pink elephant in the room is hatchery fish. It's hard to get good numbers on wild fish when they are mixed in with hatchery fish in the main stem of river systems. until they get to their brood streams. By then it's too late to give more or less opportunity.  Alaska has used sonar for counting escapement for many years but that won't work with hatchery fish in the mix.

[ASHQUACK]

 I guess at least they announced it before everyone had already bought their licenses this year.

[Stein]

That's some crazy talk right there. Would the non-Tribal gillnetting season coincide with the Tribal gillnetting season? Once quotas are reached then all nets come out? Personally, I would rather see an escapement quota reached for each run and then allow gillnetting.

Agreed. And one thing I will say, Washington sets their escapement quotas way too low. Possibly because there are so many users squabbling over the crumbs. The other pink elephant in the room is hatchery fish. It's hard to get good numbers on wild fish when they are mixed in with hatchery fish in the main stem of river systems. until they get to their brood streams. By then it's too late to give more or less opportunity.  Alaska has used sonar for counting escapement for many years but that won't work with hatchery fish in the mix.

Don't worry, the Orca Task Force will take care of the problem of hatchery fish being in the mix.

[Badhabit]

Doesn't the Bonneville and the other fish ladders have a wild vs hatchery count

[fowl smacker]

Never a better time to join CCA, there fighting for us recreational fisherman!

Used to be a CCA member.  Quit giving them money a couple years ago.  From what I can tell, they haven't done crap for OR or WA.  Maybe I'm wrong, but not seeing results.  I've decided not to purchase my license at ALL this yr.  Time to let the $ do the talking.

[Stein]

Never a better time to join CCA, there fighting for us recreational fisherman!

Used to be a CCA member.  Quit giving them money a couple years ago.  From what I can tell, they haven't done crap for OR or WA.  Maybe I'm wrong, but not seeing results.  I've decided not to purchase my license at ALL this yr.  Time to let the $ do the talking.

I'm with you, although I decided to buy less - no CR endorsement or freshwater, only saltwater and only after the seasons are announced.  Also, instead of buying everything for the entire family, we will probably only buy half of what we did last year.  For hunting, probably 1/3.

I truly believe that this is the only avenue.  We can attend meetings, send our money to any group you can name and none of that has done anything.  They sit by and clap at the Orca Taskforce, the governor, special interests and anyone other than the biologists or the source of the vast majority of funding - aka hunters and fishermen.

[castie2504]

Unbelievable. Why are they even considering this when the numbers for a years have been so bad? What’s incredible is that this year’s projection is even worse than the past few years and ten year average actual returns. What are those people thinking? I’m sick and tired of the recreational fishermen playing fiddle to the commercial outfits. 

[Stein]

I looked through the presentation, they are using projections that under any of the options in consideration, there will be more angler trips in 2019 compared to pre-policy (2010).  What they don't do is adjust for the number of anglers now compared to then or address the concern over years when the run comes in low (seems to be the norm now) and how sport can get shut out or have very unpredictable seasons.

The story they are telling is that even with increased netting, the sports win and the commercials lose.

The good news is that barbless would move to voluntary.

[Antlershed]

....and here it is. 

http://nwsportsmanmag.com/wdfw-fish-commission-adopts-columbia-subpanel-reform-recommendation/

[Stein]

....and here it is. 

http://nwsportsmanmag.com/wdfw-fish-commission-adopts-columbia-subpanel-reform-recommendation/

I suspect the people who fund this agency will be in revolt until this shameful vote is overturned.”

Let's hope so.  Gentlemen and ladies, there is no other solution.  How much fishing and hunting opportunity are you willing to lose before you take action?

The commission published blatantly false information showing that there will be no loss to sportsmen days on the water, but failed to mention that they plan on taking 12.5% of our quota.  We all know there are not many chinook available and we just lost bigtime. 

The only way to get the message across is to cut funding by not purchasing as much as you did last year.  Think about what you could do without this year, or at least delay it as long as possible.

[Tinmaniac]

Funny that they would allow barbed hooks again.Barbless hooks were supposed to decrease fish mortality.Not sure how it is on the Columbia but seasons are closed early due to fish encounters,not actual numbers of fish caught.Seems to me they will change the formula used to determine fish mortality due to the perceived notion that there is higher fish mortality when barbed hooks are used.

[Stein]

Yep, get ready for short seasons.  More encounters for commercials and a higher rate.


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