ODFW Meeting on the Sandy

[Fishhead]

How many of you i-fish guys attended the meeting today in Portland? Cutting the hatchery summer run fish from 460,000 to 80,000 seems to be an over reaction by our friends the fish biologists. PGE needs to do us all a favor and leave the Marmot dam in place so that the ODFW can still seperate the wild fish from the hatchery fish, and still stock it with our 460,000. The crowd was about 90% against the cut back and 10% for the reduction. Whats going to happen to the guys who normaly fish that river? I bet they find another river to fish and then they can blame the state for the over crowding of the rivers that remain. Just my 2 pennies worth...........Fishhead Vic

[Deleted User]

Vic, I have the feeling that the other rivers they would go to will also have planting cutbacks. As a matter of fact, I have this sneaking hunch that steelhead hatchery planting cutbacks have been underway already, unpublisized to avoid public outcry, and that is one of the reasons there is only a tiny hatchery run of winter steelhead region wide, despite the improved summer runs and coho runs with the better ocean feed conditions. Only a hunch. We better get more volunteers to help with broodstock programs now and in the future if we want fish to catch and keep.

[ssteelheadsteve]

Oh Fishhead
You might want to reconsider the stocks and numbers mentioned in your post. I believe they are incorrect.Go to ODF&W web site and click NEWS Jan 2001 for info on the staff proposal.If they changed their mind about S. Steelhead between Monday and today it would not be in charcter I don't believe we ever came near 460,000 S.Steelhead in the Sandy.

Hopefully the 90 % of the folks at the meeting did ALL their protesting BEFORE the meeting.Those meetings are just to make the people not in the loop think they have some influence.The decisions are all made behind closed doors.Usually before the meeting begins.It's called executive session.You can sometimes get into these meetings if you are a member of the media but they make you sign a document stating that you will not repeat a word.If you do YOU go directly to Jail and they mean it.Staff knew this would be unpopular so they dragged their --- untill Monday to release their option choice.All your concerns need to be expressed BEFORE the ODF&W Commission Dog & Pony Shows begin.

[This message has been edited by ssteelheadsteve (edited 01-20-2001).]