WDFW’s January meetings start on Friday the 13th. Yep, Friday the 13th. Think that’s a bad omen?
Among the key topics on the agenda is discussion and we expect a decision on if Washington will follow Oregon’s footsteps and break the promises they’ve made about sunsetting Non-Tribal gillnet fisheries on the main stem of the Columbia River. Beyond simply honoring their promises — recreational fishermen have literally funded this transition by purchasing their Columbia River endorsement over the past few years. To backslide now is not only an ethical breach, it’s a financial one too.
The commission is accepting written comments until January 6th, so there only 2 days left for us all to use our single biggest asset — which is our thousands of voices. We need to all not only take the time to make our opinions heard, but we have to each ensure our handful of close friends all do this too. Share, evangelize, encourage. This is how movements get momentum.
The folks over at CCA have done a great job making it easy for you — use their link below to send your thoughts along, then share this post with all your fishing buddies!
→ CCA Action Alert ←
WDFW you need to uphold your end of the deal sports fisherman,guides, and the sport fishing business depend on it
I am asking you to stay on track in banning non tribal gill net fishing on the main stream Columbia river. More ago has chosen to turn their backs on their spots fisherman. Please don’t turn your backs on us. Given the lack of opportunity in 2016 in most coastal fisheries and Puget Sound it is time for some change. Many sportsmen I have spoken with are waiting to see how WDF Handles this issue and others. I.E. TRIBES & sportsmen allocations. I for one will not be purchasing a fishing license until I see positive results for sport fishers. 2016 was a disaster for us. It is past time for the state to stand up to the Tribes!,
Please WDFW hold up you promise. Oregon renigged and we need you to show them the right direction to go. Only you can help the change, and fish runs.
I am asking WDFW to uphold there promise to band gillnets below Bonneville dam on the main stream Columbia River. Its time to take care of the fish, gillnets can not distinguish between wild and hatchery. Gillnets don’t know that sturgeon are to be released unharmed. Gillnets don’t know the difference between endangered and protected. Gillnets Don’t know that the quote has been reached. We all live in the 21st Century and its time to find a different harvest method for commercial fishing that are environmentally conscious. Times have changed and so must the way fish are harvested in the Columbia river if we are to have Salmon, Steelhead and Sturgeon reforms.
Coming from a Longview WA resident I would love to see WDFW hold up there side of the deal when I and many many of my closest friends are paying the fee to take gill nets off the Columbia river but in turn nothing is happening! And also the fact that you guys doubled the expenses for me to legally go out and catch and retain a fish really makes me irritated as well. I am 23 years old I remember what it used to be like fishing in chinook alley at the mouth of the cowlitz with my grandfather and killing the salmon and steelhead that travel through. But now a days with seals, limited access to fishing areas, fee increases, environmental issues and so on it really feels like we are fighting a never ending war. For me the avaerage recreational fisherman I know that if I do not start seeing changes to the way that our fisheries millions of dollars and upper management are being managed then I for one may have to stop buying my license and stop finding the WDFW entirely. I am very irritated at the fact that prices are rising and opportunities are vanishing quicker then I can count.. ?????? give yourself a round of applause you have successfully pissed off literally tens of thousands of recreational fisherman! Hopefully you guys can stick to that agreement I’m tired of seeing gillnets destroying literally my back yard.
Ban commercial nets in the Columbia River.
Just do the right thing and keep those kill nets out!! How hard is it stick to your agreement. It starts with you folks to insure future runs.
You made the agreement. Don’t back out now!!!! We have done everything asked of us, now hold up your end of the bargain. There is way too much at stake here to go back to the old way. This is the only river system left in the US that still allows netting of game fish. It has got to stop!! With stocks in Alaska dwindling, where do you think we will get a new start from this time if the runs down here disappear? We and our children are counting on you to uphold this agreement. Thank you in advance for making the correct decision. Don’t worry, we will have your back if it hits the fan. Recreational fishermen and women are like that. And don’t burn us, because we remember that stuff too.
How many fish do non tribe gill netter take compared to sportsman. Sea lions and seals get ore fish than gill netter
I both sports fisherman and former gill netter. Compare cost difference and teller ho good gill netter make out compared to sports. We lost fish to seals in August but nobody complains about free all problems
As a sportsmen and a fishing guild I would hope no demand you would keep up your end of what everone has already paid for and been promised to get the nets out of the Columbia River
I have been paying the Columbia fee for both oregon and Washington to mitigate the impact of removing gill nets from the main stem so we have paid for the program. my biggest problem with the gill nets is last fall we got out before sun up by the camas boat ramp and I could see them dumping fish into the bins, clearly we could see chinook, a few sturgeon and what appeared to be native coho. we can’t continue to allow indescriminant harvest.
I have been purchasing a fishing license since 1972. I have witnessed the disastrous effects of Maximum Sustain Yield. Due to the imprecision of fisheries managers, stocks of fish continue to dwindle, or, in some cases, experience unpredicted unaccounted robust runs.
The implementation of barbless hook regulations, improved release practices by sport fisherman, and in-season management decisions reflect efforts to quantify and manage the impact of sport catch and significantly minimize the reduction of protected fish stocks.
There is no solution for the commercial gill-net fishery beyond extinguishing it. Every endangered wild salmonid that is harvested by non-selective commercial net gear violates Federal laws protecting those specific fish. The ethical responsibility to stop the gillnet interception lies with the state and I believe the citizens are calling for action.
Washington state has not been an ethical steward by ignoring juvenile mainstem dam mortality and non-selective commercial nets for decades. It’s 2017. I believe a few commercial fisherman take so much more than their fair share and impact the future of Washington residents as well as impacting the genetics of highly pressured species. I believe commercial fisherman are practicing today because of their success as political lobbyists – not what makes sense. Look at the MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars the sport fish industry infuses into the state economy.
I entered a contract with the State whereupon we mutually agreed that my fee, paid to fish the Columbia River, was collected to define alternatives to an antiquated and obsolete fishing industry. I believe the spirit of the agreement supports making decisions that will restore fish runs. I expect a good faith agreement to be executed. It would not be prudent to delay the only reasonable outcome – stop the gillnets.
Please safeguard the future of the Columbia River salmonids.
When your hook and line goes in the water you have no idea what you are going to catch.sport fishers that claim selectivity are just wrong.Pawing thru multiple wild stock salmon to get to that fin clipped keeper is not what I would call good stewardship of the resource.
We’ll continue to approve your comments here, but will remind our readers that you are a commercial fish broker, and your arguments are wholly unsupported by the best science available.
The individuals that have been elected to manage our fisheries should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves. The misuse and or underuse of hatchery stock and the complete lack of protection for wild stocks from commercial overharvest has left me ready to hang up the waders for good. At a point in the season where 20 years ago I would have caught dozens of steelhead, this year I have been so lucky as to catch one. And it’s not for lack of effort or poor conditions. I would estimate that at least 90% of Washington’s rivers and streams that were once home to healthy runs of salmon, steelhead and trout are now essentially void of fish. It’s a tragedy. A sad and undeniable fact. The very few waters that do still have fishable numbers of returning fish are now so ridiculously overcrowded with fishermen that it turns what should be a fun and relaxing day of fishing into a stressful, aggravating and competitive situation where it’s not uncommon for fist fights to occur out of frustration. We have here in Washington more than enough adequate habitat to support a world class sport fishing industry which would bring millions and millions of dollars to our state and local economies while also pprovidng residents and non residents alike with enjoyable recreational aaactivites that could be experienced by families and friends. How are we to bring new fishermen and younger generations into the sport when just trying to hook a single fish is more often than not an aggravating impossibility due to a complete and total lack of fish in the water? My daughter has never caught a steelhead and I used to take her out all the time. After hours of fruitlessly flogging the waters she would naturally get bored and quit. Nowadays she won’t even go out with me and it’s a shame because early on she really enjoyed going with me. She’s 22 now and has a son of her own. I can only hope that there will be changes made in the ways that we manage our fisheries so that I might some day take my grandson out and have an enjoyable time on the river while catching a few fish and that he might have the opportunity to be successful and find it as enjoyable as I did when I was a little guy, not all that long ago, when our waters were full of fish, but I doubt it. Please bring back our fish.