Washington Fishing

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Washington's proposal to eliminate or modify Columbia River Warm Water regs including small mouth bass.

 Subject: Washington's proposal to eliminate or modify Columbia River WW regs.

 

Read what Washington State is proposing on sections of the upper Columbia and Snake.      If it passes, it could be proposed for the rest of the river.   

 

Here’s a link to Washington’s proposal

 

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/rule_proposals/comments/prop...

 

The website includes information on proposed rules that WDFW fishery managers recommend move forward for further review and public comment, as well as information on proposals not recommended for further consideration.

 

Craig Burley, fish management division manager for WDFW, said people can submit comments by using a new online form available on the website.

 

“The ability to submit comments through the website is one of several changes we have made to the process to make it more user-friendly,” Burley said.

 

The public meetings will run from 6-8 p.m. and are scheduled for:

 

  • Oct.      1 – WDFW’s Spokane Office, 2315 North Discovery Place, Spokane Valley.
  • Oct. 2 – WDFW’s Ephrata Office,      1550 Alder Street NW, Ephrata.
  • Oct. 4 – WDFW’s Mill Creek      Office, 16018 Mill Creek Blvd., Mill Creek.
  • Oct. 9 – WDFW’s Vancouver      Office, 2108 Grand Blvd., Vancouver, Wash.
  • Oct. 10 – Montesano City Hall,      112 North Main Street, Montesano. 
  • Oct.      11 – East Valley Fire Station, 2003 Beaudry      Road, Yakima.

 

The public also will have an opportunity to provide testimony on the proposed rule changes during the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission’s January meeting in Olympia. Check the commission’s website (http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/) for the specific day and time.

 The commission, which sets policy for WDFW, is scheduled to vote on the final sportfishing rules package during a meeting in February.

 WDFW is recommending nearly 70 sportfishing rules proposals move forward for public comment, including proposals that would:

 

  • Remove the daily catch limit for channel catfish and the daily catch and size limits for bass and walleye in portions of the Columbia and Snake rivers and their tributaries to assist with recovery efforts for salmon and steelhead. A second option under that proposal would also remove existing limits for those fish, but restrict anglers to three bass larger than 15 inches in length and one walleye larger than 24 inches in length. The proposed changes are designed to increase the harvest of abundant bass, walleye and channel catfish, which prey on juvenile salmon and steelhead that are listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.

 

 

Thanks

Stilen.

 

 

Views: 1101

Replies to This Discussion

Incredible! The Northern Pike Minnow program was a failure, so now this? Who did the study that led to the proposal? It just baffles me how few of the smallies we catch in the river puke up salmon smolt at any part of the year!

Most catch and take anglers don't abide by the current rules anyway so I'm wondering what kind of effect this will really have.  Regardless, I agree Chad that this is BS....  Isn't there a couple of biologists on the site that can chime in?

this is just another example of how our state manages our fisheries to death, but managing from an office chair is most likely easier than going out and seeing the problem first hand.

There is also a rule proposal on there to increase the bag limit of hatchery steelhead on the snake river. I Guess bass only eat ESA listed salmon and steelhead.

I have weighed in on this with an interview for Northwest Sportsman magazine.  I think we should all demand to know who suggested this, and as Chad said, with what study to document this.  I cannot believe a fishery biologist has made this proposal. 

 

Predation is natural and neccessary in nature for ensuring survival of the fittest.  Predation of salmon by bass does occur, but is extremely minimal due to the infrequent overlap of their range.  If anything, bass likely have a positive impact on salmonids in the Columbia due to their predation of Northern Pikeminnow and others.

 

Predation is much greater by Terns, sea lions and seals, etc.  Are we removing limits and protection on Terns? 

 

This is political and has nothing to do with science.

 

Marc Marcantonio 

I don't know how much of an effect it would have on either the bass or the salmon. But it does show you where the state is at and who knows where it will go. Like someone earlier said why aren't we going after the seals or terns? Bass seem to be an easy target.

Troy is right, someone sitting in an office on the west side that has never been out in the feild, making decisions on something they don't have a clue about. There are alot of people who don't follow the catch rules , but you legalize a no catch limit and you will see people coming in with buckets full. We have had some lakes over on the East side that people decide to kill off a good bass fisheries for trout, where will it end

I left a comment with the WDFW on this issue and the lake Sammamish rule change. I hope you guys are too. Keep in mind that the Salmon conservation and ESA dollars pay the bills and keep the biologists and decision makers employed. With that being said, while commenting try to be respectful and don't piss them off or say anything sarcastic or uneducated. Like Ben said, bass are an easy target and most of these poeple, and their supporters are anti-bass as-is. Its pretty ignorant because there are a handfull of states with a similar climate to ours, who embrace the spiny ray/warmwater fish and actually turn-profit via recreational fishing. Meanwhile the NOFishandNoWildlife Dept. is bankrupt and a tax burden on our state and Fed Gov.

 

The recent pulication by Thomas A. Friesen of the Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife entitled:

"A Review of Smallmouth Bass Predation on Juvenile Salmonids in the Pacific Northwest," focused on bass predation in the Hanford Reach among others. Some of the statements in the publication included:

-The bass “…will prove himself, if given the opportunity, the best friend of our salmon and trout.”

 

-No researchers conclude SMB are a “major” source of salmonid mortality

 

This is some of the ammo I used when submitting my statement on the rule proposal.

"A model of the upper Columbia River food web suggests
that smallmouth bass interacts with northern pikeminnow by
foraging on similar resources (Harvey and Kareiva, 2005). This
model predicts that a reduction in smallmouth bass will lead to
more resources and a larger population of northern pikeminnow.
Understanding the potential interactions of smallmouth bass
with native predators in the community is necessary to predict
the outcome of management actions."

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&sour...

This link has lots of valuable information.

According to another study I read, Northern Pikeminnow are more of a threat to salmonids in the Columbia River system.  The above quote basically states if you reduce smallmouth bass, northern pikeminnow will increase in population.  Then you will have increased the population of a predator that preys on salmonids more.

Another point,

"In addition to smallmouth bass, other non-native predators
are present throughout the PNW (Sanderson et al., 2009).
For example, walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) is a non-native

predator of salmon and a popular sportfish of anglers in the
PNW. Walleye is a more significant predator per capita; Poe
et al. (1991) reported that walleye had a higher percentage of
salmon in their diet (14%) compared to smallmouth bass (4%)
in the John Day Reservoir. Furthermore, salmon losses to predation
were higher for walleye (13% of total annual salmon
consumed) than smallmouth bass (9%) in the John Day Reservoir
(Rieman et al., 1991). Presently, walleye is not as prevalent
throughout the PNW as smallmouth bass. Because these
non-native species share similar resources, monitoring indirect
responses of non-target species (e.g., walleye) is necessary to
evaluate the outcome of management actions, such as changing
fishing regulations on smallmouth bass. There is also a need to
evaluate the cumulative effects of all of these predators, including
the native northern pikeminnow, on salmon smolts through
their entire outmigration. For instance, northern pikeminnow,
smallmouth bass, and walleye combined were estimated to consume
7–17% of all salmon that annually migrate through the
John Day Reservoir (Petersen and Kitchell, 2001).

 I attended the public meeting at the Mill Creek WDFW office tonight to find out more information on both the Columbia River proposal, and the Lake Sammamish gear restriction proposal. I felt the meeting was well run and informative, with biologists willing to have an honest dialog. I strongly believe the Lake Sammamish proposal can be defeated as no one present seemed to believe it will have any significant effect as written. Please submit your comments on WDFW site, I suggest mentioning the lack of data to support the proposal at this time, and the fact that bass anglers rarely if ever catch Kokanee during the proposed time frame even though we spend quite a bit of time on Sammamish Feb. thru April.  On the Columbia River removal of catch limits for bass, walleye, and channel cats the data they quote is mostly from a Yakima River Study and an older study from the John Day in Oregon. I asked to be provided a copy of the Yakima report and will post it when I recieve it. I personaly do not believe there will be a huge rush by food fishermen to wipe out the bass, many who do food fish for bass already do not follow the rules and have not hurt the overall population. Several years ago they doubled the daily catch limit for bass on Roosevelt and many believe the fishing there is better than ever... I agree with Ryans post above that a decrease in smallmouth will lead to an increase in northern pikeminnow, such is the law of unintended consequences...

 Please everyone get involved, post your comments on these proposals through WDFW and we can make a difference...

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