C-lice
05-20-2008, 11:21 PM
Tonight a public meeting was held at the Douglas County Library to take public testimony on proposed regulation changes for 2009-2012. Among the proposed reg changes were 5 separate proposals that would have allowed the harvest of wild winter steelhead on the Main Umpqua, North Umpqua, and South Umpqua.
A bit of background--The Main Umpqua was opened to wild winter steelhead retention in 2004. The North Umpqua had been open for wild winter steelhead retention for many years prior to 2004. Both rivers allowed the harvest of one wild winter steelhead per day and 5 per year. The South Umpqua has been closed to the harvest of wild winter steelhead for many years. The South Umpqua has a substantial hatchery winter steelhead program. Neither the Main nor the North has ANY winter steelhead hatchery program.
Last July a group of local (bait) guides AND the Steamboaters (a flyfishing club) submitted proposals to halt the harvest of wild winter steelhead in the Main and North Umpqua. A public meeting was held in Roseburg, and another was later held before the ODFW Commission, and as a result the wild winter steelhead on the Main Umpqua and North Umpqua were closed to harvest in the winter of 2008.
Fast forward to the present. In its public rulemaking period of December 2007 through February 2008, ODFW received a lot (I think they said 175) of proposals from the public asking that the wild winter steelhead fishery be re-opened.
Tonight, ODFW staff presented the proposals, and then opened up the floor for members of the public to speak their mind about the proposals. The results were not at all what I thought they'd be.
By my informal count, 17 individuals spoke to the ODFW staff and members of the public present. Of those 17 who spoke, 15 were OPPOSED to reinstating a consumptive wild winter steelhead fishery (on the Main, the North, and the South--all 5 such proposals were effectively treated in one big round of speeches) and 2 were IN FAVOR of reinstating a consumptive wild winter steelhead fishery.
One common complaint of people who have complained about the wild winter steelhead closure of 2008 was that it was a ploy of special interest groups (guides and flyfishing purists) to put forward their own agenda without regard to the average angler. At tonight's meeting, 5 of the 15 people opposed to the reinstatement were guides and one of the 15 was a member of the Steamboaters. So even setting aside these special interest groups, the 'average Joe' anglers in opposition outnumbered those in favor by 4.5 to 1.
Of the more interesting points, one pro-harvest advocate proposed that guides' boats should not be allowed to keep any wild winter steelhead but that non-guides should. Also, in the 'show of hands' polling after public input, each of the 5 Umpqua harvest proposals were opposed by more than 20 hands to 5 or fewer hands. In addition, one individual whom I know and trust states that he had personal knowledge that the majority of the 175 petitions received by ODFW in favor of reinstating wild winter steelhead harvest were 'form letters' placed on windshields at boat ramps. Rhine Messmer was quick to point out that even if this is the case, all 175 that were counted were signed by the individuals submitting them, and thus were valid.
If you are a wild steelhead advocate, this is a major step forward. This does not mean that ANYTHING is decided yet, but ODFW staff definitely know how John Q. Public feels about this issue. There is definite momentum moving toward preserving wild winter steelhead.
A bit of background--The Main Umpqua was opened to wild winter steelhead retention in 2004. The North Umpqua had been open for wild winter steelhead retention for many years prior to 2004. Both rivers allowed the harvest of one wild winter steelhead per day and 5 per year. The South Umpqua has been closed to the harvest of wild winter steelhead for many years. The South Umpqua has a substantial hatchery winter steelhead program. Neither the Main nor the North has ANY winter steelhead hatchery program.
Last July a group of local (bait) guides AND the Steamboaters (a flyfishing club) submitted proposals to halt the harvest of wild winter steelhead in the Main and North Umpqua. A public meeting was held in Roseburg, and another was later held before the ODFW Commission, and as a result the wild winter steelhead on the Main Umpqua and North Umpqua were closed to harvest in the winter of 2008.
Fast forward to the present. In its public rulemaking period of December 2007 through February 2008, ODFW received a lot (I think they said 175) of proposals from the public asking that the wild winter steelhead fishery be re-opened.
Tonight, ODFW staff presented the proposals, and then opened up the floor for members of the public to speak their mind about the proposals. The results were not at all what I thought they'd be.
By my informal count, 17 individuals spoke to the ODFW staff and members of the public present. Of those 17 who spoke, 15 were OPPOSED to reinstating a consumptive wild winter steelhead fishery (on the Main, the North, and the South--all 5 such proposals were effectively treated in one big round of speeches) and 2 were IN FAVOR of reinstating a consumptive wild winter steelhead fishery.
One common complaint of people who have complained about the wild winter steelhead closure of 2008 was that it was a ploy of special interest groups (guides and flyfishing purists) to put forward their own agenda without regard to the average angler. At tonight's meeting, 5 of the 15 people opposed to the reinstatement were guides and one of the 15 was a member of the Steamboaters. So even setting aside these special interest groups, the 'average Joe' anglers in opposition outnumbered those in favor by 4.5 to 1.
Of the more interesting points, one pro-harvest advocate proposed that guides' boats should not be allowed to keep any wild winter steelhead but that non-guides should. Also, in the 'show of hands' polling after public input, each of the 5 Umpqua harvest proposals were opposed by more than 20 hands to 5 or fewer hands. In addition, one individual whom I know and trust states that he had personal knowledge that the majority of the 175 petitions received by ODFW in favor of reinstating wild winter steelhead harvest were 'form letters' placed on windshields at boat ramps. Rhine Messmer was quick to point out that even if this is the case, all 175 that were counted were signed by the individuals submitting them, and thus were valid.
If you are a wild steelhead advocate, this is a major step forward. This does not mean that ANYTHING is decided yet, but ODFW staff definitely know how John Q. Public feels about this issue. There is definite momentum moving toward preserving wild winter steelhead.