Closure of Skagit and Sauk rivers to fishing
Fishing Rule Change
WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
January 15, 2010
Action: Close the Skagit and Sauk Rivers to all fishing.
Species affected:
All game fish species
Location and effective closure dates:
Skagit River from the mouth upstream to Highway 536 (Memorial Hwy. Bridge) at Mount Vernon will be closed Feb.16, 2010 through April 30, 2010.
Skagit River from the Highway 536 (Memorial Hwy. Bridge) at Mount Vernon upstream to the Gorge Powerhouse will be closed Feb.16, 2010 through May 31, 2010.
Sauk River from the mouth upstream to the Whitechuck River will be closed Feb. 16, 2010 through June 4, 2010.
Reasons for action:
The closure will reduce incidental hooking mortality on wild steelhead. The 2009/2010 forecasted return of wild winter steelhead to the Skagit Basin is expected to be below the escapement floor of 6,000.
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5 Responses to “Closure of Skagit and Sauk rivers to fishing”
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You might as well just move this straight to the RANT section.
Once again we sport fishers take it in the shorts because our politicians won’t do what we ask them to do.
Can’t we just have a C&R season? Would a bunch of people catching and releasing some wild fish using lures and flies really impact the native run that greatly? More than the tribal nets on the river? More than the nets in the ocean? More than the recent logging that is still cutting too close to the tributaries? Let’s spread the wealth a little more here than just the solution that takes the least amount of effort.
How accurate are their redd counts, really? Now everyone will just pack their drift boats and crowd into the few streams on the coast that will be open after February. Or maybe we’ll all head north of the border and make the lower mainland streams even more crowded. Just another reason to love thy government.
Please check into The Wild Steelhead Coalition, CCA, and some of the other organizations that we can support that will give us a voice.
Yup – RANT section here we go!
I could not agree with you more – on every point you made. Our governments are so used to sweeping problems under the rug instead of dealing with them.
I suppose the easiest solution is to just deny, deny, deny – which goes without saying, gov’s are pretty good at doing.
My personal belief is that banning sleds, bait and gear will help immensely and most often stop over fishing, however it needs to be policed once implemented.
In BC we have classified waters during the fall on most SH rivers…but it just seems asinine to me that during these ‘classified’ times that sleds and gear are still allowed. Isn’t that an oxymoron?
And, don’t even get me started on tribal netting. It is a very little known fact that BC still allows harvesting of wild Steelhead on certain watersheds (thankfully in much smaller amounts than in WA) – yes, it is true. It is just not talked about at all, (mostly because people don’t know) but it happens each year. I have seen the documentation.
Our gov’s need to buy the commercial fishing licenses out, tribal netting/harvesting needs to be stopped for species on the decline, bait needs to be banned on sensitive watersheds, and sleds need to have better regulations on classified waters.
Just to put this all in perspective…
From ‘State of the Steelhead’ by Dylan Tomine.
“On Washington’s remote Olympic Peninsula, a region generally considered to be one of the last strongholds of healthy wild steelhead runs in the U.S., the Quinalt, Clearwater, Sol Duc and Bogachiel rivers each receive less than 50 wild summer steelhead in a given season. In biological terms, these fish are “functionally extinct.”
The Hoh River, mostly flowing through a National Park’s pristine rainforest environment, is inexplicably still managed as a catch and kill sport fishery for wild winter steelhead, with an escapement goal of 2,400 fish. I use the term “managed” loosely here.
In the 2002/03 season, when a total run of 3,583 steelhead returned, the tribal and state “managers” allowed a combined sport/tribal harvest of 1,967 steelhead. In other words, more than half the run was harvested, resulting in an escapement of only 1,616 spawners—almost 800 fish short of the minimum goal.”
I’ve been fishing the Skagit the last two days. No steelhead, but manged to pull in a few dollies (bull trout). It bums me out to no end, knowing that it will come to a close in a month. I have no problem shutting the river down to bring back the runs as long as we are doing everything else in our power, too. But we’re not. And just keeping out law-abiding sports will not bring the run back to healthy numbers.
You know, I also have no problem with the tribes netting salmon for subsistence. Most that I used to know didn’t even like to eat steelhead. But what I do have a problem with is allowing the fish to be sold commercially when the runs are so low that that the rivers and salt are shut down to other forms of fishing.
And I don’t know what’s worse, allowing wild fish to be kept on the Peninsula, or the fact that there are still morons who do keep them. I’m getting tired of being flipped-off when I ask folks to let the natives go out there.
&^*%&* #%&^@# – ^*%^@#$ !
KJ – I am due to hit the Skagit for a few days here as well. I have to admit it does bum me out to know that there are ‘no’ fish, however…thankfully it is not about the fish entirely, so i am good with the catching part of the equation.
However, as for our runs…yes, it is depressing to know that a system is in peril. Many of the SH systems are, simply due to government ignorance, and lack of care when the fishery is compared to a catch and kill salmon run.
I also have no issues when the food fishery argument is brought up, however…i do have issues with harvesting a declining run, of any species, for any reason. Period.
Hatcheries are an issue that us supporters of wild stock fight against, however, they were implemented for a REASON. Period.
Yes, our gov’s need better policing of regulations. That is apparent.
What can we all do? Read, educate, spread the word, help, believe. protect, and never lose faith. Not necessarily the answer or cure, but awareness spreads through perseverance, so teaching the next generation has never been as critical as now. Thank you for all the hard work you do.