Portion of North Fork Stillaguamish River will be closing to fishing

[natetreat]

No fun at all! A buddy of mine was planning to go up there this weekend, but plans are gonna have to change.





Portion of North Fork Stillaguamish River will be closing to fishing

Action: Closes a portion of the North Fork Stillaguamish River.

Effective dates: Dec. 1, 2010 through Jan. 31, 2011.

Species affected: All game fish.

Location: North Fork Stillaguamish River, downstream from the Swede Heaven Bridge approximately 4 river miles to the French Creek confluence. This closure includes the Whitehorse Hatchery effluent and Fortson Hole area of the North Fork Stillaguamish.

Reasons for action: The Whitehorse Hatchery facility is significantly below its steelhead egg-take requirements that are needed to achieve the release target of 70,000 summer and 140,000 winter hatchery steelhead smolts. The closure of the fishery in this area is necessary in order to collect sufficient fish to meet broodstock needs.

Other information: If spawning goals are met prior to Jan 31, the department may re-open this section of the river.

Information Contact: Jennifer Whitney, District 13 Fish Biologist, 425-775-1311 ext. 107, whitnjlw@dfw.wa.gov .

[Matt]

All of these closures this year are really ticking me off. It doesn't make sense to have a hatchery open for no other reason than to support its own egg take, might as well close the whole thing down and allow the native runs to return without the added competition. Also, I feel like I am paying for a license and only getting a portion of what I payed for. All the of the rivers I like to fish are being closed, last winter and spring, then again this fall and winter. This is just a bunch of BS.

[natetreat]

I know right? It's because they're doing the special style of planting, they don't want to put too many in or something. Whatever the reason, they aren't putting enough fish in for a fishery and that's BOGUS. I'd never seen this kinda thing until I moved up north. Argh.

[dogfish7]

Just a DISASTER in our rivers and salt water these days. Maybe Catch and Release for 5 years. Natives can only harvest what they put into the water, gill netting BANNED. Japanese commercials cay pay us for what they take in open waters, since they only rape us of our fish in essence. WDFW needs to seperate the Anandromous fishery program from stocked lakes, ect..The programs do not work together. No need to expand, however a need to seperate the fisheries.

[Thor]

Is there somebody who understands what is going on with any/all of these closures??? It would be easier to take if I had any sense of what they're doing and why. I keep reading that WDFW is closing rivers because it "is necessary in order to collect sufficient fish to meet broodstock needs." Do they restrict any other group's collection of these fish?

IN an early morning attempt to understand, I looked up their Mission Statement:

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) serves Washington’s citizens by protecting, restoring and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats, while providing sustainable and wildlife-related recreational and commercial opportunities.

It appears they are protecting the fish... from recreational fishers. Are they restoring or enhancing? I don't know.
It doesn't seem to me that they are providing recreational opportunities when they keep closing rivers. While I certainly don't understand all that this department has to do, it would seem to me that they haven't been doing it for years if they now are needing to close up fishing (in a sense punishing us recreational fishers) while everybody else seems to be able to get theirs, i.e., commercial and natives.

I know many of us complain about these decisions, but is there anybody who can explain the issues/decisions and their implications? Does Oregon have similar issues?