04-19-2007, 03:53 AM
[size 1]With lower chinook and coho salmon returns expected at numerous rivers in Washington, state and tribal co-managers recently agreed on a conservation-based fishing package that focuses fisheries on abundant hatchery fish and healthy salmon runs.
Salmon populations listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) will continue to restrict fisheries along the coast, as well as those in Puget Sound and the Columbia River, says Jeff Koenings, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
"We must recover and protect wild salmon populations that are in need of help, and this year's package of recreational and commercial fisheries continues to move us toward that goal," says Koenings. "Fisheries must be focused on hatchery salmon, allowing more wild fish onto the spawning grounds, where habitat improvements are currently under way."
Most natural salmon production has been lost to damaged and vanishing habitat, says Billy Frank Jr., chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
"This requires the co-managers to be increasingly precise in our management," he says. "We just don't have any room for error. The salmon is too important. If we err, it must be on the side of conservation."
Treaty tribal fisheries will again be severely limited this year to meet recovery goals for wild salmon, Frank says.
This year's recreational fishing package includes carefully constrained fisheries that not only meet the necessary conservation needs but also provide meaningful opportunities for sustainable fisheries, Koenings says. This package is the fundamental foundation for a new approach to the future of sport fishing in Washington, he added.
For example, anglers this year in Puget Sound can participate in seven new recreational mark-selective chinook fisheries - four during the summer and three in the winter - which require fishers to safely release any wild fish they intercept while targeting and keeping fin-clipped hatchery salmon. The co-managers agreed to a comprehensive in-season monitoring and enforcement plan to ensure the fisheries are meeting their intended management and conservation goals.
"We were able to work through some very tough issues to put together this fishing package for anglers this year," says Koenings. "We would not have accomplished this without the cooperation and participation of our constituents."
The fishing package also includes recreational ocean quotas of 16,250 for chinook and 117,600 for coho. Those quotas were approved by the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), which sets harvest limits in waters three to 200 miles offshore. The chinook quota is much lower than last year, while the coho harvest level is higher.
Anglers will have an opportunity to take advantage of an abundant return of pink salmon this year. About 3.3 million pink salmon are expected to come back to Puget Sound streams, nearly 1.3 million more fish than forecast in 2005. The smallest of the Pacific salmon species, pink salmon return to Washington's waters only in odd-numbered years.
"Bonus" bag limits for pink salmon will be established in marine areas 5 through 11, except in Marine Area 8-1, where pink retention will not be allowed because of anticipated low returns to the Skagit River.
Details of the salmon seasons will be provided in the upcoming 2007-2008 Fishing in Washington pamphlet. [/size]
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Salmon populations listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) will continue to restrict fisheries along the coast, as well as those in Puget Sound and the Columbia River, says Jeff Koenings, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
"We must recover and protect wild salmon populations that are in need of help, and this year's package of recreational and commercial fisheries continues to move us toward that goal," says Koenings. "Fisheries must be focused on hatchery salmon, allowing more wild fish onto the spawning grounds, where habitat improvements are currently under way."
Most natural salmon production has been lost to damaged and vanishing habitat, says Billy Frank Jr., chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
"This requires the co-managers to be increasingly precise in our management," he says. "We just don't have any room for error. The salmon is too important. If we err, it must be on the side of conservation."
Treaty tribal fisheries will again be severely limited this year to meet recovery goals for wild salmon, Frank says.
This year's recreational fishing package includes carefully constrained fisheries that not only meet the necessary conservation needs but also provide meaningful opportunities for sustainable fisheries, Koenings says. This package is the fundamental foundation for a new approach to the future of sport fishing in Washington, he added.
For example, anglers this year in Puget Sound can participate in seven new recreational mark-selective chinook fisheries - four during the summer and three in the winter - which require fishers to safely release any wild fish they intercept while targeting and keeping fin-clipped hatchery salmon. The co-managers agreed to a comprehensive in-season monitoring and enforcement plan to ensure the fisheries are meeting their intended management and conservation goals.
"We were able to work through some very tough issues to put together this fishing package for anglers this year," says Koenings. "We would not have accomplished this without the cooperation and participation of our constituents."
The fishing package also includes recreational ocean quotas of 16,250 for chinook and 117,600 for coho. Those quotas were approved by the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), which sets harvest limits in waters three to 200 miles offshore. The chinook quota is much lower than last year, while the coho harvest level is higher.
Anglers will have an opportunity to take advantage of an abundant return of pink salmon this year. About 3.3 million pink salmon are expected to come back to Puget Sound streams, nearly 1.3 million more fish than forecast in 2005. The smallest of the Pacific salmon species, pink salmon return to Washington's waters only in odd-numbered years.
"Bonus" bag limits for pink salmon will be established in marine areas 5 through 11, except in Marine Area 8-1, where pink retention will not be allowed because of anticipated low returns to the Skagit River.
Details of the salmon seasons will be provided in the upcoming 2007-2008 Fishing in Washington pamphlet. [/size]
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