Puget Sound early winter hatchery steelhead

[spoonman]

Looks like ill see all y'all on my home river in a couple years. Or maybe not, I know alot of old timers that just look at me with bewilderment when I say I still fish the sky. These are guys that fished it before the boldt decision. I understand a little more of how they feel today. I say we still go fish the skagit and still and green, find some bug tossers in their moment of zen and be as obnoxious as possible.

[Bay wolf]

How about we all meet up at the Dept. of Natural Resources in Olympia and dump all our steelhead gear on the door step?
That might make a point in the news!

Um, yeah. Protest the DNR.

The DNR building houses the offices of WDFW. (I guess I should of added that)

Washington Department of
Fish & Wildlife

Main Office
Natural Resources Building
1111 Washington St. SE
Olympia, WA 98501

[hammeredbrass]

Looks like ill see all y'all on my home river in a couple years. Or maybe not, I know alot of old timers that just look at me with bewilderment when I say I still fish the sky. These are guys that fished it before the boldt decision. I understand a little more of how they feel today. I say we still go fish the skagit and still and green, find some bug tossers in their moment of zen and be as obnoxious as possible.

Well said spoonman! I know I'll be extra courteous to any "flickers" I encounter on the rivers-------NOT! If they were so convinced hatchery plants were a major problem to losing wild steelies, they should try the Nisqually R. where they (hatchery steelies) were never planted and after 20 years of no fishing on a once good run of wilds there is---------zilch!

[Bay wolf]

BOARD OF DIRECTORS


Is that a Wild Steelhead he's holding completely out of the water?

No, wait....maybe it's a hatch!

[natetreat]

The part that pisses me off is that WDFW just gives in to extortion. WFC isn't the injured party here, they are just benefiting financially from this. And WDFW just lets them take our money.

[BentRod]

And some people are taking it into their own hands. I can't say I'm surprised something like this happened, but I am surprised whoever did it got away with it.

http://www.nwcn.com/news/Police-seek-st ... 26461.html


by GARY CHITTIM / KING 5 News
NWCN.com
Posted on May 13, 2014 at 2:34 PM
Updated today at 3:38 PM

FALL CITY, Wash. -- Washington state’s five steelhead hatcheries are on high alert after someone broke into a facility overnight and released approximately 25,000 juvenile fish into the Snoqualmie River.

State Fish and Wildlife Hatchery managers are concerned it was an act of defiance against a new agreement that sharply curtails the state’s steelhead hatchery program. The agreement resulted from a lawsuit filed by a fish protection group, Wild Fish Conservancy, which accused the State of violating the Endangered Species Act. State Fish and Wildlife Managers agreed to stop planting winter steelhead hatchery fish in all but one river.

This set off a wave of criticism by some sport anglers who eagerly await the steelhead runs each year.

It also left the state with huge numbers of steelhead that could not be released into tributaries of Puget Sound. Whoever struck the Tokul Creek facility on the Snoqualmie appeared to know the hatchery was planning to truck its large inventory of steelhead to the east side of the state where they would be released into lakes that would not allow them to migrate to the Sound.

State Fish and Wildlife Enforcement officers and King County Sheriffs deputies are investigating the break in. Hatchery workers say whoever did it cut the lock off a tall chain link fence, entered the hatchery grounds and pulled the screens that prevented the steelhead from entering the creek and Snoqualmie River.

Private security officers have been hired to patrol the other hatcheries until police figure out if this is an isolated case or part of an organized resistance to the settlement.

[schu7498]

Haha love it!

[sickbayer]

yup what took them so long!

[Steelheadin360]

That is so awesome! Haha. Hey we paid for them, so that makes them our fish correct?

[natetreat]

But only 25,000 got out, now we have private security at all the hatcheries to make sure it doesn't happen again. All the fly flickers are pissed though.

[spoonman]

Buy that man a cigar!

[rcthepirate]

Buy that man a cigar!

Haha or start raising money to fund their legal expenses

[Bodofish]

But only 25,000 got out, now we have private security at all the hatcheries to make sure it doesn't happen again. All the fly flickers are pissed though.

Hummmmmmmm..... and you never whip the stick? At our fly club meeting they came and talked. I asked quite a few very pointed questions which they had no answers for. Like, "If you stop putting fish into the system, how can you expect a larger return?". I suggested rather strongly they were targeting the wrong problem and should have their sights on commercial fishing of bait fishes, pollution and habitat. Hatchery elimination will never increase numbers, it just can't happen no matter how much you want it too!

[sickbayer]

I agree bodo, we could dump billions in but there is not enough food in the sound for them. They should be targeting commercial exploitation of our bait fish in the sound, increase habitat protection and decrease polution and take it from there. I'm just flabbergasted that these people are supposedly educated?! Saying that people actually voted for sarah Palin so say no more.

[mizm05]

Unfortunately only 25K got out. I would expect none of them to actually make it back.

[Bodofish]

Unfortunately only 25K got out. I would expect none of them to actually make it back.

About 2% return.

[4steelhead]

Dumb! Whether they were clipped or not. Now we have to pay for private security, upgrade facility security and restrict access.

[Goldrigger1]

The conservation group is too far toward a system which doesn't take human needs and desires into account. Our larger population needs a larger fish population. This may not be the "ideal result", but it is what it is right now.

There are many things I'd like to see be more pristine. I think the conservationists have done many great things to aid in this. However, they go too Ivory Tower at times which is often very anti-human. We humans are just evolving too. All species can't be dealt with as if they are in a science lab or a utopian setting. Reality is far different than perfect. AND yet, who is to say things aren't evolving in their own perfect way as is.

IMHO, things are actually pretty darn good. We have a nice balance now. Let's not over-tinker with a good thing.

[natetreat]

Hatcheries are the easy target. They're a sitting duck. Stopping them will do nothing for our wild fish. We will never EVER see the historical numbers. Urban development, dams, ocean conditions dikes habitat destruction, predation... These are all the reasons. Not hatchery fish. WFC needed a pay day, and they are a bunch of idiot fly flickers. Conservation needs to take into account the needs of fisheries, sport anglers and others to be successful. Cherry picking and taking potshots at sport anglers is only going to hurt the cause. It shouldn't be dem/republican, we're all concerned parties. Maybe we should have herring hatcheries and an open season on seals and cormorants. That would work 100% better than removing our RESPONSIBLE hatcheries. Put all the dead hatchery salmon back in the river for the nutrients. I can barely read these articles and threads without punching my keyboard. WFC is a bunch of real life trolls.

[Goldrigger1]

Wow Nate! I feel your anger. I've felt it for decades and not just about fish. It was said long ago that these conservationists (and people like them) actually don't like people. That isn't the cause of this type of thing, but inside their hearts these over-regulators don't like and don't trust human beings. If they could have their way, the human race would be managed by them too. That is at the core and why we intuitively know we should get real mad.

I will give them credit for many improvements in our environment even though it was due to negotiation and balance.