Their presentation of the rather sobering return data is well done, to the point, and easy to understand; one of the key take home messages is that the WA steelhead recovery plans implemented thus far have dismal failures – the numbers brutally present that case.
Count me among the rather small group who will continue to argue that recreational fishing – and commercial fishing by the tribes – should stop for a time to allow stocks to recover; it’ll be a cold day in Washington state hell before that ever happens, but otherwise steelhead managers (and apparently a surprising number of recreational and commercial fishers) are fiddling while Rome burns on the coast.
To their credit, the WSC agrees that one option for the season is a closure to recreational fishing; while they at least mention Tribal fishing rights, to not address the issue of Tribal harvest dooms plans to eventual (as clearly demonstrated by history) failure.
Image via the linked WSC post above.
