NEWS RELEASE
WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH
[Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife]AND WILDLIFE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia,
WA 98501-1091
April 7, 2000
Contact: Pat Pattillo, 360-902-2705
Public processes shape responsible salmon
seasons amid strong conservation efforts
PORTLAND- -Salmon seasons set here this week will provide sport fishing
opportunities for anglers for healthy hatchery stocks while ensuring
that
wild salmon are protected.
"We worked very hard to find ways to keep sport, commercial and tribal
fishers on the water while meeting our responsibilities under the law
and as
good stewards to protect weak wild stocks," said Phil Anderson, the
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's chief of Intergovernmental
Affairs.
The fishing seasons were set today after a lengthy public process that
began
in February. In Portland this week, the Pacific Fishery Management
Council
set ocean fishing seasons while state and tribal co-managers set the
seasons
for Puget Sound and other state waters in the North of Falcon process.
Anderson emphasized that harvests expected in 2000 are consistent with
broader salmon recovery efforts, set out in Gov. Gary Locke's Extinction
Is
Not An Option plan. The plan addresses key factors limiting salmon
recovery
such as the degraded condition of many state rivers that result in
the
premature death of millions of young salmon before they reach salt
water.
The WDFW official also said the agency worked closely with the National
Marine Fisheries Service, which implements the federal Endangered Species
Act, to ensure adequate protection for listed stocks, such as Puget
Sound
chinook. NMFS is expected to formally approve this year's fisheries
that
focus on hatchery fish and ensure recovery of threatened stocks.
"Through efficiencies, we've been able to maximize seasons and opportunities
while significantly reducing the catch of weak stocks," Anderson said.
Therefore, anglers will have to target their efforts carefully this
year to
take advantage of the fishing opportunities. Highlights of this year's
opportunities include:
* The Pacific coast from such ports as Westport and Ilwaco,
where sport
anglers will have the opportunity to harvest
75,000 marked coho and
12,500 chinook
* The Columbia River, where large runs of marked hatchery
coho are
expected to return. A healthy run of chinook
from the Hanford Reach and
other upriver areas also is expected to return
* The Strait of Juan de Fuca, where fishing for adipose
fin clipped
hatchery coho will be the rule
* Elliott Bay, which will have chinook fishing opportunities
in August
* Winter blackmouth (immature chinook) fishing in Puget
Sound
Sport fishing opportunities also will be available throughout Puget
Sound,
Anderson said. To maximize Puget Sound fishing opportunities, anglers
also
can expect:
* Strong WDFW enforcement and monitoring efforts
* Possible new regulations banning the use of treble hooks
after a public
process before the Washington Fish and Wildlife
Commission later this
year
* Place and time closures to protect migrating wild salmon
"Commercial and tribal fishers have similar limitations to protect wild
runs
this year," he emphasized.
In addition to problems with wild chinook, WDFW fish biologists have
noticed
runs of hatchery as well as wild coho to southern Puget Sound have
been
declining since the 1980s and 1999 returns were the lowest on record.
WDFW
is working with tribal and University of Washington scientists in an
effort
to determine the cause.
This year's forecast for all Puget Sound coho stocks is just 45 percent
of
last year's preseason forecast. All wild coho runs, including those
returning to the Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers as well as those flowing
into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Hood Canal are expected to return
at low
levels. On the ocean, fishing seasons have been shaped to protect wild
Queets River coho, which are expected to be in poor condition this
year.
Marine area fishing seasons this year are:
Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound):
* May 1-June 30: two salmon daily limit of which one may
be a chinook at
least 22 inches in length; Carr Inlet closed
* July 1-Oct. 31: two salmon daily limit, chinook must
be at least 22
inches in length; release wild coho; Carr
Inlet closed through July 31
and Sept. 16-Oct. 15; Budd Inlet closed July
16-Oct. 31
* Nov. 1-Dec. 31: two salmon daily limit, of which one
may be a chinook
at least 22 inches in length
* Jan. 1-Feb. 15: catch and release only
* Feb. 16-April 10: one salmon daily limit, chinook must
be at least 22
inches in length
* April 11-April 30: closed
* Fox Island Pier: two salmon, of which one may
be a chinook at least 22
inches in length, all year; release wild coho
July 1-Oct. 31
Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco):
* July 10-Sept. 30 (or until a quota of 37,500 marked coho
is reached):
Open Sunday through Thursday; two salmon,
of which one may be chinook,
daily limit; 4,300 chinook harvest guideline
Marine Area 2 (Westport-Ocean Shores):
* July 3-Sept. 30 (or until a quota of 28,900 marked coho
is reached):
Open Sunday through Thursday; two salmon,
of which one may be a
chinook, daily limit; 7,400 chinook harvest
guideline; closed through
Aug. 10 inside of a line from Buoy 2 to Buoy
3 to the Grays Harbor
north jetty
Marine Area 2.1 (Willapa Bay):
* Aug. 16-Jan. 31: six salmon, of which two may be adults;
release wild
coho, daily limit
Marine Area 2.2 (Grays Harbor):
* Sept. 1-Oct. 31: six salmon, of which two may be adults
including one
wild adult coho, daily limit
Marine Area 3 (LaPush):
* Open July 3-Sept. 30 (or until a quota of 1,700 marked
coho is
reached): fishing open seven days per week;
two salmon, of which one
may be a chinook, daily limit; 300 chinook
harvest guideline
Marine Area 4 (Neah Bay):
* July 3-Sept. 30 (or until a quota of 6,900 marked coho
is reached):
open seven days per week; two salmon, of which
one may be a chinook
outside of the Bonilla ÐTatoosh line only,
daily limit; 500 chinook
harvest guideline; quota of 6,000 marked coho
in Marine Area 4-B;
release chinook
Marine Area 5 (Sekiu and Pillar Point) and Marine Area 6 (East Strait
Juan
de Fuca):
* May 1-July 31: closed
* Aug. 1-Sept. 30: two salmon, release chinook, chum and
wild coho;
closed to boat fishing * miles of the mainland
shoreline and within *
miles of the Whidbey Island shore in August
(shore fishing permitted)
* Oct. 1-Oct. 31 open only in Dungeness Bay for a daily
limit of two coho
* Nov. 1-Nov.30: two salmon, of which one may be chinook
at least 22
inches in length, daily limit; release all
coho
* Dec. 1-Feb. 15: closed
* Feb. 16-April 10: one salmon daily limit , chinook must
be at least 22
inches
* April 11-April 30: closed
Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands):
* May 1-June 30: closed
* July 1-July 31: two salmon daily limit of which one
may be a chinook at
least 22 inches in length; Rosario Strait,
eastern Strait of Juan de
Fuca and Bellingham Bay (including Samish
Bay) closed
* Aug. 1-Sept. 30: two salmon of which one may be a chinook
at least 22
inches in length; southern Rosario and eastern
Juan de Fuca straits and
Samish Bay closed; Bellingham Bay closed through
Aug. 15
* Aug. 16-Oct. 31: Bellingham Bay (including Guemes Channel
west of
Guemes Island ferry route) four salmon, of
which one may be a chinook
at least 22 inches in length, daily limit
* Oct. 1-Oct. 31: two salmon daily limit, release chinook;
Samish Bay
closed through Oct. 15
* Nov. 1-Nov. 30: two salmon, of which one may be chinook
at least 22
inches in length, daily limit
* Dec. 1-Feb. 15: closed
* Feb. 16-April 10: daily limit one salmon, chinook at
least 22 inches in
length
* April 11-April 30: closed
Marine Area 8-1 (Deception Pass, Hope Island, Skagit Bay):
* May 1-Aug. 31: closed
* Sept. 1-Oct. 31: two salmon daily limit, release chinook
* Nov. 1-Nov. 30: two salmon, of which one may be chinook
at least 22
inches in length, daily limit
* Dec. 1-Feb. 15: closed
* Feb. 16-April 10: one salmon daily limit; chinook at
least 22 inches in
length
* April 11-April 30: closed
Marine Area 8-2 (Port Susan and Port Gardner):
* May 1-Sept. 15: closed
* Sept. 16-Oct. 31: two salmon daily limit, release chinook
* July 7-Sept. 30: Tulalip Bay open only from 12:01 a.m.
Friday through
11:59 p.m. Monday of each week; two salmon,
of which one may be chinook
at least 22 inches in length, daily limit
* Nov. 1-Feb. 15: closed
* Feb. 16-April 10: one salmon daily limit; chinook must
be at least 22
inches in length
* April 11-April 30: closed
Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet):
* May 1-Aug. 31: closed
* Sept. 1-Sept.15: two salmon daily limit, release chum
and chinook
* Sept. 16-Sept. 30: closed
* Oct. 1-Oct. 31: two salmon daily limit; release chinook
* Nov. 1-Now. 30: two salmon, one of which may be a chinook
at least 22
inches in length, daily limit
* Dec. 1-Feb. 15: closed
* Feb. 16-April 10: one salmon daily limit; chinook must
be at least 22
inches in length
* April 11-April 30: closed
* Edmonds Public Fishing Pier: two salmon, of which one
may be a chinook
at least 22 inches in length, daily limit
all year
* Hood Canal Bridge Fishing Pontoon: May 1-June 30: two
salmon, of which
one may be chinook at least 22 inches in length;
closed July 1-Aug. 31;
Sept. 1-April 30, two salmon daily limit of
which one may be a chinook
at least 22 inches in length; release chum
Sept. 1-Sept. 30
Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton):
* May 1-June 30: closed
* July 1-Sept. 15: two salmon daily limit; release chinook
(closures:
east of a line from Point Wells to Meadow
Point July 1-Aug. 31;
Shilshole Bay July 1-Oct. 31; Elliott Bay
east of a line from West
Point to Alki Point July 1-Aug. 16)
* Elliott Bay (east of a line from Pier 91 to Duwamish
Head): closed Aug.
1-Aug. 15 except open noon Friday through
noon Monday Aug. 4-Aug. 7 and
Aug. 11-Aug. 14; two salmon, of which one
may be chinook at least 22
inches in length, daily limit
* Sinclair Inlet (south of Manette Bridge; south of a
line drawn west
from Battle Point and west of a line drawn
south of Point White): July
16-Sept. 15: two salmon daily limit; chinook
must be at least 22 inches
in length
* Sept 16-Sept. 30: closed
* Oct. 1-Oct. 31: two salmon, release chinook
* Nov. 1-Nov. 30: two salmon of which one may be a chinook
at least 22
inches in length
* Dec. 1-Feb. 15: closed
* Feb. 16-April 10: one salmon daily limit; Agate Pass
closed Feb.
16-March 31
* April 11-April 30: closed
* Terminal 86 and Seacrest piers: two salmon, of which
one may be a
chinook at least 22 inches in length, all
year
Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon):
* May 1-May 31: closed
* June 1-Sept. 15: two salmon, of which one may be a chinook
at least 22
inches in length, daily limit (Commencement
Bay closed through July 31)
* Sept. 16-Oct. 15: one salmon limit, chinook must be
at least 22 inches
in length
* Oct. 16-Nov. 30: two salmon limit, one of which may
be a chinook at
least 22 inches in length
* Dec. 1-Feb. 15: closed
* Feb. 16-April 10: one salmon daily limit, chinook must
be at least 22
inches in length; (Commencement Bay closed
April 1-April 10)
* April 11-April 30: closed
* Dash Point Dock and Point Defiance Pier: two salmon,
of which one may
be a chinook at least 22 inches in length,
all year
Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal):
* May 1-June 30: closed
* July 1-Aug. 31 (south of Ayock Point): two salmon, of
which one may be
a chinook at least 22 inches in length, daily
limit; release chum;
closed north of Ayock Point July 1-Aug. 31
except for Quilcene/Daboob
Bay with a four coho daily limit
* Sept. 1-Oct. 15: two salmon daily limit; release chinook
and chum
* Oct. 16-Dec. 31: two salmon, of which one may be a chinook
at least 22
inches in length, daily limit
* Jan. 1-Feb. 15: closed
* Feb.16-April 10: one salmon daily limit, chinook must
be at least 22
inches in length
* April 11-April 30: closed
* Hoodsport Salmon Hatchery: July 1-Dec. 15: four salmon,
of which two
may be chinook, daily limit; night closure;
release chum July 1-Oct. 15
Charlie Mastro wrote:
See if you can tell what's wrong here.I went out to Fall City this morning to fish the run at the convergence
of the Snoqualmie and Ranging rivers. (You should know by now). I was
casting away with my usual no luck when I start to make my second run
through. I start at the head of the run and I'm casting and I keep hearing
this Hay! Hay! and I think it's these sea gulls over head. Well I finally
look behind me and here's this guy walking out with his coffee cup in hand
and I think he must want to ask me what I'm using or or some such.
Well I finally make it out to be fellow list member Jerry Crosby and he
says "I'm smarter than you are". I say "Why? Because you're not wasting
your time trying to catch fish that aren't there". He says " No because I'm
not fishing on a closed river". OH BOY!!
Needless to say I got off the river in a hurry! Beware my fishing
friends this could happen to you. It's something like a $150 fine and they
can take your gear. We're going to fish the Sky tomorrow, it's still open!-- Charlie Mastro
206-767-9185
206-271-4039 Cell
