Washington Fishing

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Once again the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County are assessing AIS fees for all powered boats--$50 for a "one year" pass with a $10 discount if you take the course on their website--$10 for non-motorized craft which is free if they take the course.  As a reminder, this program was started after the report of Asian clams in the lake.  This started a survey of all boats entering the lake, I think this was about 2010 or 2011.  Out of one thousand boats inspected, three were found to contain aquatic invasive PLANT species.  All three boats were from British Columbia, all three boats were wakeboard-type boats (water-filled bilges that put the boats down lower in the water to create rideable wakes), and all three boats had previously been to Lake Osoyoos in BC.  So, after finding invasive species in .03% of all the boats inspected, the local governments decided to require ALL powered boats to be inspected, plus pay a fee.  According to most county council members, they are unaware of the survey numbers. I have submitted emails, photos, and attended committee meetings to voice my concerns about this program.  What was interesting (and disappointing) to me was that the most attendees we could muster at any of these meetings came to a grand total of two--counting me.  Here are some of the reasons I feel these current rules are onerous at best:

1.  The "annual" permit only runs from late April to late September, a total of five months.  After that, the inspectors leave, so having an AIS sticker becomes a moot point;

2.  The only boats found "contaminated" during the previous inspection were boats licensed out of the state.  This being the case, I feel out-of-state boats should bear a larger fee, while local boats should pay the same as the non-powered boats;

3.  According to the "official" public works press release, there was an increase in boat traffic year-over-year, the point being that the AIS fees had no affect on lake use, negating the argument that the high fees were a method of reducing the numbers of powered boats using the lake; however, according to the on-site inspectors, powered boat use of the lake was down as much as fifty percent, creating the adhoc practice of reducing lake use by creating a fee that is way out of line with AIS inspections of other lakes, such as Mead, Havasu, and Tahoe ($10).

Right now, both the county and city governments think that these fees have been accepted by the boating public, and haven't caused any problems.  Of course there are two environmental bodies (Boats Off!, a somewhat ragtag group dedicated to getting ALL watercraft off the lake, and The Lake Whatcom Stewardship program, a very organized, well funded group who have made themselves known and heard to receptive council members) that continue to put pressure on both the county and city to enact further restrictions.  When the topic arises, these people turn out in numbers that easily bury our concerns.  It was the Stewardship program that lobbied for the ban of two-stroke motors (which AIS inspectors AND the sheriff's inspectors have ignored) AND the AIS program.

I know there is a lot of bitching and belly aching on this site about this situation.  I would appreciate everyone who is concerned about the Whatcom County fishery (there is movement afoot in the county council to charge a fee for any boat using ANY lake in Whatcom County) to make their voice heard either by email or by actually attending a council meeting.   Again, the AIS program has been initiated because so few of us objected to it.  I'm currently on the sh!t list of one city councilman (from my district no less), and two county councilmen, so I have been advised to back off for awhile before alienating anyone else.  I was shocked at one of the meetings when county councilman Ken Mann stated that bass boats were the biggest threat to the water quality of the lake.  These people have no clue as to what they're doing, and will continue to do if we don't provide the facts to offset some of the misconceptions.

Last year, this program lost at least six figures, so the fees aren't even beginning to cover the expenses.  This is why the inspections stopped in early fall last year--their funding dried up.  Keep in mind that public works is not the culprit here.  The employees are simply following the directions of the local governments.  There was a big article in the Herald last year regarding a boat in which Quagga mussels were discovered.  What wasn't noted was that particular boat had been in dry storage for more than a year, so any risk of infecting any body of water was zero.  Most council members are unaware of the rigid inspections and rules regarding trailered craft being removed from contaminated lakes.  They say the inspections begin during "boating season," which is a more generic term for "fishing season."   Anyway, it is fairly easy to go on the City of Bellingham and Whatcom County websites and voice your concerns over this program.  Thank you.      

      

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