|
Thought this might be of interest & there's still some
time left for input- Bill Hamilton
----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Schaad
To: Daniel
Compton ; Chuck
Ballard ; Bob Birkner ; Bill Boardman ; Hugh
Clark ; James Creim ; Greg
Crumbaker ; Robert W.
Day ; Jay
Delaney ; Nubs
Fratt Jr. ; Bill
Hamilton ; James Hanson MD ; Grant Hendrickson
; Greg
Hicks ; Ronald
Hofmeister ; Joe
Holmes ; Curt
Jacobs ; Ken
Jarvis ; Hugh
Jennings ; Lester Johnson ; Charles
Judy ; Victor
Kalata ; Kris Kristofferson ; Robert LaBouy ;
Gil Levy ; Paul
Lingbloom ; Rocco Maccarrone ; James D
Miller ; Donn
Milla ; John C. Narver ; Bill Neal
; Ed
Pettigrew ; Dick Robbins ; Howard
Rossbach ; Jerry W. Sammons ; Lorring W. Sheppard ; Cam Sigler ; Preston Singletary ;
Maury
Skeith ; James
Sokol ; Peter M
Sparling ; Robert E. Tarleton ; John K. Thomas ; Daniel C.
Vaughn ; Fran B Wood ; James G Young ; Robert A. Young ;
John Arechvala ;
Jim
McRoberts ; John
Sager ; Cabby Tennis ; Terry Wiseman ; Ben Dennis
; Steve Sutton ;
Jon
Williams ; WFFC2 ; Don Schroder ; Bill Redman
; Frank
Vulliet ; Dan
Melton ; Dyche Kinder
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2000 5:54 PM
Subject: Alert: Commercial Harvest for Chum Eggs All -- I'll confess that I didn't have a clue as to
the scope of this practice. If you are as dismayed as I, you may
wish to write a letter as indicated below. -- Doug
From: Douglas C. Schaad [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2000 8:29 AM To: Douglas C. Schaad PhD Subject: TRIBnet Home Page Now that facts are out, let's find use for chum Bob Mottram; News Tribune outdoors writer Please place the back of one hand against your forehead - either hand is OK - and repeat after me. "Ai-yai-yai! Ain't it awful! Ain't it awful!" There you've got it; the typical response - virtually the only response - of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in recent years to the institutionalized waste of chum salmon carcasses by a commercial fishing industry that strips the fish of eggs then throws the carcasses away because of lack of demand for them. Until last week. Last week, the department's deputy director acknowledged publicly that, in spite of the waste, the fishery for eggs is far too valuable to stop. He said that Washington's net fishermen - tribal and nontribal - make too much money from the eggs for the state to simply quit producing the hatchery fish that contribute so much to the problem. The deputy director's name is Larry Peck, and you've got to give him credit for candor. He put the issue squarely on the table. For years the department, including its enforcement branch, has pretended to be horrified by the waste, which when perpetrated by non-Indians appears to violate state law. For years the agency has declared, when confronted with the issue by the media - but only when confronted - that it intends to find the perpetrators and, if they are non-Indian, intends to write them up. For their part the tribes, also when confronted with the issue, have responded with "ain't-it-awfuls" of their own. Their tribal regulations, some of them point out, also prohibit wastage. But the practice continues. If the state truly were serious about stopping or reducing the waste, all it would have to do is stop or reduce its production of hatchery chum. But it hasn't. It continues to produce the fish knowing no market exists for their flesh, just for their eggs. And, finally, Peck has candidly stated why. A mature female chum, laden with orange eggs, is worth a lot of money, perhaps three times as much as a typical coho salmon, whose flesh is highly prized. The average netter, he implied, would rather catch a chum than catch a coho. The facts are finally on the table. So let's forget about decreasing chum production, because it isn't going to happen. Let's abandon the hypocrisy of our "ain't-it-awfuls." Let's get serious, instead, about finding viable uses for the fishes' flesh - as fertilizer, as hatchery fish food, as nutrients for watersheds, as whatever else that's useful. And let's stop this awful practice of turning our remarkable salmonid heritage into useless garbage. How can we explain that to our kids? * Meanwhile, the department does seem to be trying to stir itself off dead-stop in order to move, however tentatively, in the direction of addressing the issue. It's holding three public meetings this week to take public comment on a series of commercial fishing subjects, one of which is a proposal to prohibit fishermen from removing eggs from a fish to sell separate from the fish. None of the meetings will be convenient to Pierce County people. One is tonight in Mill Creek, north of Seattle; another is Thursday evening in Montesano, the third is Friday evening in Longview. Still, written comments may be sent before Dec. 12 to Dick Geist, Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia 98501-1091. They also may be faxed to 360-902-2949 or e-mailed to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The department intends to go to the Fish and Wildlife Commission in February with a fish-egg regulation recommendation. * So, why does the department need a regulation? What's the matter with simply enforcing the state law against fish wastage? Well, plenty. Evan Jacoby, the department's enforcement division legal specialist, says the wastage law isn't all it's cracked up to be. At least not as far as salmon are concerned. A problem crept in when the Legislature recodified the section of law on fish and wildlife enforcement in 1998. The new version makes it a gross misdemeanor to recklessly waste big game or to waste other fish or wildlife worth $250 or more. It's a simple misdemeanor to waste fish or wildlife worth less than $250 but more than $20. Wasting less than $20 worth isn't against the law, and 1998 was the first time that a monetary minimum was set. The $20 was suggested by a lawmaker who didn't think the state should make a criminal out of someone who inadvertently allowed a couple of trout, perhaps, or a duck, to spoil, Jacoby said. So, how do you prosecute a commercial fishermen who might reasonably argue that the hundreds of salmon he discarded aren't worth the $20? "It's not technically correct to say those chum salmon are worth nothing," Jacoby said. "But they're not worth much." - - - * Reach staff writer Bob Mottram at 253-597-8640, or [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
|
|
