ATTENTION: SPORT FISHERMEN

[jawbreaker]

I was up at Bonneville this weekend and received a flyer on the upcoming closure on the Columbia. I didn't get their names but I would like to thank whoever put this flyer together and took time out of their fishing day to bring us all up to speed on whats happening with our fishery. The flyer reads as follows:

ATTENTION: SPORT FISHERMEN

Your fishery closes after Tuesday April 17th on the Columbia River for Spring Chinook Salmon.

BUT the GILLNET season opens from Beacon Rock to Astoria the week of April 23rd.

Yes; This is not rumor. It is 100% fact.

This is not the Indian Gillnet Fishery above Bonneville.

Twenty Gillnetters have been selected to participate in this experimental "Tooth Net Fishery" while you sit on the sidelines.
Twenty individuals will profit at the expense of 9000 Sport Fishermen.

Are the interests of 20 people more important than the interests of 9000 of you?

Stand up and be heard.

Gillnet fishermen are limiting your days of fishing. How long are you going to remain silent?

Call Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and ask for Cindy LeFleur at 360-906-6708. Or get on the inernet at: www.wa.gov/wdfw/home.htm (http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/home.htm)
Tell them how you feel.

Call Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and ask for Anne Presentin Young at 503-872-5264 ext 5356. Or get on the internet at: www.dfw.state.or.us. (http://www.dfw.state.or.us.)
Tell them how you feel.

That is the end of the flyer. This raises more questions than it answers-

#1 Why aren't we being informed about the real reasons for the closure of our fishery?

#2 Why do the Sport Fishermen and Fisherwomen
have to be shut down at all? The run is healthy.

No matter which side of the fence you are on whether its the commercial fisherey or the Sportsfishery, I just want to be informed with the facts.


images/icons/wink.gif

[s reynolds]

This just doesn't seem right. Thanks for letting us know about this JB.
Steve

[GoFish]

Hey Jawbreaker thanks for posting this. I think its obvious which constituency is most organized and carries the greatest weight with the politicos. Sport fishing is still under-represented despite the efforts of the Northwest Steelheaders and NSIA. Want to change the balance? Join these groups, vote, call your elected officials, speak out in the public arena. Do all those things we've heard lots about. Through the continous efforts of some dedicated people, things seem to be slowly turning around in favor of the hard-spending sport fishing community. If everyone who buys a sportfishing license made just ONE phone call to a legislative representative you would see the pace of change increase. Gillnetters have their backs to the wall and they know it, or they wouldn't bother with testing new nets. If this springer season on the Columbia has demonstrated anything, it's that a very large segment of the public can have a lot of fun when catching a lot of fish. Hopefully, we will all demand more of what we got this season. Remember, VOTERS RULE!!!

[Pilar]

Thanks for the links. I am composing a letter that I will post on both sites and here once it is written. At the very least the people who made the 2001 Springer sport season what it was deserve a more detailed explanation of the sudden end to their fishing.

BTW I have not personally seem a more enthusiastic pursuit of any fish outside of Bouy 10 or the all depth Halibut fishing days. I'm sure Fisherman's Marine and GI Joes would agree with me. The economic impact of sport fishing is bigger than is generally realized.

[Pilar]

Copy of letter emailed to the directors of WDFW and ODFW.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Sir,
Let me introduce myself. My name is John Wells and I assist in moderating a website discussion board dedicated to fishing in the Pacific Northwest. As a 'Forum Guide' I represent some 1000 registered 'Ifishers' and literally thousands of lurkers, who just visit and read the board.

I'm forwarding to you the threads that represent the comments circulating through the Sport fishing community about the Columbia River salmon season closure.

Attention: Sport Fishermen http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=004054

Columbia Quota http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=004020

Basically the Sport fishers are excited about the angling opportunities this spring chinook season.

They are, however feeling left in the dark regarding the allocation of fishing opportunity between the net fishers and sport anglers. Is there any information regarding the closure you could share with our discussion board? Given the awesome size of this salmon run and the ethical behavior of sport anglers regarding wild fish release, many feel short changed by the season closure.

Is an outright sport angling closure necessary? Why not allow the season to continue with a reduced bag limit of one fish per rod, per day?

Gentlemen, I invite you to join the discussion on our forum. We do not intend to bash you, we just want to know more about the policies that affect our lives on the river .........

We ask you to explain it to the sport fishers that jammed boat ramps, convenience markets, marinas, tackle stores, gas stations and the river this spring seeking a silvery cultural icon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok boys and girls, make nice and ask good questions. If you want to write them too, you can at

Washington
Dr. Jeffrey P Koenings, Director@DFW.Wa.Gov

or Oregon
Steve King, Steve.d.king@state.or.us

[ 04-16-2001: Message edited by: Pilar ]

[dawhunt]

Hey guys all this info was in the thrusday columbian,I just hope when they get done dicking around they let us back in for a few days.We may never get another run like this it would be a crying shame not to let us fish for them.If I understood this right if we don't catch them this year there not going to put as many back in the river from the hatchery's again.Last year they had so many at the wind river hatchery they were lettint the indians have them !!! images/icons/mad.gif

[DF]

Nice letter I like it
And why the heck are they closing it. I have seen more wild fish caught then I have seen hatchery.. This means that there must not be that many fish being kept... what the deal? images/icons/rolleyes.gif