This an article I wrote back in 2006 when an influx of increased comercial pressure was evidant on the Quiliute and Hoh systems, there has been a slow turn in the direction of awareness towards this issue and I felt that it needed to be reiterated now as the wild winter steelhead we all love are begining there run for the spawning grounds. The letter was not too well recieved by any political parties and mostly ignored but that will not stop me from fighting for what I feel is right.
No Wild Steelhead on the menu
This will be a campaign for the survival of wild steelhead in the Pacific Northwest.
We are totally committed to the future runs of wild steelhead. With the increasing pressure of commercial netting the steelhead may go the same way of the salmon, near extinction. There are too many steelhead runs on the endangered species list already it must stop now.
Without huge funding, lawyers, politicians, or the help of Washington dept. of wildlife, we the anglers of these great fish must change the PUBLICS view of the steelhead. We must inform the public of the recent over harvest performed by tribal comercial fishermen.
The entire image of angling in the North West is based largely on the famed Steelhead trout. We all have had some romantic dream of battles with the greatest game fish in our region. Those dreams will all be illusions if something is not done to prevent the slaughter of wild steelhead. Throughout the United States the Olympic Peninsula is considered the last stronghold of the giant wild winter run Steelhead. The steelhead has been a cornerstone of the angling world much like the striped bass of the upper east coast, Redfish on the Gulf coast, and Billfish worldwide. These fish have been brought back from near extinction and are thriving today. It is now time to bring back the Wild Steelhead runs to there former glory days when Forks Washington was the steelhead capitol of the world. These fisheries were all saved by grassroots participation, starting with public opinion of these fish as a food source locally and eventually a buy out of commercial anglers.
Now classified as a salmon by the Wildlife Department, Steelhead have been thrown into the pot as a food fish not as a game fish, this opened the door for the tribes to sell them abroad. Coupled with self-policing and poor reporting ethics of commercial buyers the steelhead market is wide open to fraudulent activity.
As sport anglers we have taken big strides to save the steelhead runs by virtually eliminating any sport kill fishing, we have clubs and groups that volunteer extensively on habitat projects. We simply pay the lions share for the survival of the steelhead and we get blamed for there downfall. All the wile the tribes are claiming forgone opportunity and fishing more days and taking a higher and higher percentage of the run. The tribal biologists say there are more fish than our wildlife biologists say there is, and unless we go to court with the tribe again the wildlife dept. just steps aside and lets the tribe do what they want.
With tribal commercial gill netting of the rivers up to 5.5 days a week and the price for wild steelhead at nearly 2.00$ a pound ( four times more $ than previous years) the tribes have more than doubled there fishing vessles. These are just a few of the actions that concern many others and myself. We don’t wish to impose that the tribes should not fish just that they need better regulation. Regulation that provides for a quality fishery NOT an under escapement commercial fishing get them all now and do something else when they are gone philosophy.
There is but one bright light in this equation and that is freedom of speech. With that we can change anything. We must change the opinion of all possible consumers of Wild Steelhead. They need to be informed that there are not enough steelhead in the North West to accommodate a non selective unsustained commercial fishery. They need to be informed that a gill net fishery in a river can and will wipe that species from existence. We need to let those restaurant owners know that we will not dine in their establishments with steelhead on the menu. We must find and protest against the purchasers of wild steelhead. We must also find out if they market the fish under other names, ie: silver trout. Eventually a total buyout of the tribal gill netting is all that will save the anidramous fish of the Pacific Northwest.
Finally I would like to invite anyone with truthful information about this subject to tell others and us so we can someday stop all killing of wild steelhead. Please feel free to correct us on any of this information. This is based on first hand visual, personal and historic information obtained abroad.
Thank you for your support.
Brazdas fly fishing.com
