Sustainable Fisheries

[Spot]

OK everyone, I know this is will raise some hackles but I'm sure the dialogue generated will be valuable and get us all thinking about the cost of our common passion. Please keep in mind that I'm no expert, just another concerned fisherman with a Gee-Whiz question.

A common concern that I see throughout posts dealing with Salmon and Steelhead rivers is the reduction in run sizes. To be specific, I'm not talking about the Larger Rivers which suffer the ravages of Dams but rather the smaller bodies like lower tributaries of the Columbia the Willamette and the Coastal Rivers.

These bodies of water appear to be "managed" to maximize opportunities for fishermen, rather than to revive these once impressive runs of Andromous fish. Through all the posts, the proposed solutions are usually about limiting grazing and development and stabilizing watersheds by regulating logging near streams (all of which I personally agree with). But the one thing I don't hear too much about is limiting the impact of fishing. Not just C&R, but rather a reduction of fishing pressure.

That said, let me pose the question: How would YOU react to a Salmon/Steelhead fishing Lottery much like we currently have for Deer and Elk?

Picture it, peak season on the Wilson or the Alsea with next to nobody else fishing.

[OneLastCast]

Geez SPOT....you are going to give some people spots before their eyes.
The only way I would support it is if they gave riparian owner preference tags like land owner tags for hunting. But then that would go against a lot of the talk about equal access to streams, public resources, etc.. How would we handle the bays or the oceans? Interesting concept that should rile up some discussion.

OneLastCast

[Deleted User]

Is that 'Spot on'? I don't think so. Can you picture yourself having the rivers almost to yourself with fish in them, by way of a lottery? No more than picturing myself winning the state jackpot lottery. How would you work this? Once a person has won a chance to fish then they have to wait 20+ years until everyone else has successfully drawn a chance to fish with the river almost to their selves before they are eligable to draw again? ... Ya, I didn't think so.

[Spot]

It appears that the state has already reacted to one endangered fish run by shutting down Gales Creek this year. At the current rates of decline, and with the Feds getting active in SOME of our wild fish management practices, how long do you think it'll be before they start shutting down some of the others? The options as it stands will eventually dwindle down to C&R only or total stream closure.

[Mike Gilchrist]

The direct comparison between fishing and hunting does not work as well because there is a direct relation between expansion of human habitat and removal of game habitat. Regardless of how bad we have messed up some of the fish habitat, its still capable of producing incredible amounts of fish if restored.

We have many things we can do to manage harvest better before we get to the point of needing a lottery system. In the case of salmon (excluding steelhead) allocation of the non-tribal share should be examined and revised as anywhere between 15% to 30% of the total Coho and 25% to 30% of the total Chinook are harvested commercially outside Oregon and Washington State waters.

Your right when you say that the runs have traditionally been managed for maximum harvest even though they should be managed for maximum sustainability. We could do alot better with escapement goals so we have some room to be wrong with our predictions without allowing overfishing that crashes the run for 2 generations. The other obvious thing is that it takes more fish to create a quality recreational fishery even if you can't harvest them all. From the people I have talked to, your working fisheries managers know the problems in the management system and attempt to correct for the problems that come up. But in the end its upper level pollitics that undo their work.

Steelhead is the obvious exception in that sportfishers are allocated the entire non-tribal portion. Steelhead is the one species that we may have to choose between C&R only, closed fishing, or some sort of lotery. The total number of steelhead has allways been low in comparison to other species. We may have reached a human population point where steelhead really can't sustain havest in periods of low productivity even with perfect habitat.

Mike Gilchrist
RFA Washington Executive Board www.gamefishin.com/members/RFA (http://www.gamefishin.com/members/RFA)

[ssteelheadsteve]

In a recent e-mail with Oregon Trout conservation director Jim Myron I was shocked to hear JM suggest exactly the above memtioned topic as a solution to fishing.Do not be surprised to see OT suggest a lottery system for Angling much like the Controlled Hunt Lottery.

IMO

Time to KILL OREGON TROUT (THE ANTI-FISHING ORGANIZATION)funded by Big Business under the veil of conservation.This post is from one of OT's most visable past supporters.A boating lottery for Coast Streams was first proposed by former ODF&W commissioner Alan Kelly who later became the director of the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation.Hang on and fish could soon become an "old saw ".Watch These Guys.OT,TU and NFS have found a group they can beat up.The Angler.