Fishing with Cliff

Now is the time to get commenting if you want a say in the next round of rule changes for fishing in Washington State.  The WSDFW is taking written commentary on the new fishing rules and will be having a public meeting on December 4-5. 

Here are a couple of the proposed changes, but you should visit the WSDFW Website to read all of them and find out where to send your comments.

• Prohibit the harvest of all species of “unclassified” marine fish and invertebrates – such as blennies, tide pool sculpins, starfish, sand dollars and shorecrabs – which can either be found on Washington’s beaches or in nearshore waters. The proposal does not prohibit collecting empty shells from any species.
• Develop a set of protective measures for rockfish, including prohibiting retention of rockfish in marine areas 6 through 13 and closing the retention of bottomfish in waters deeper than 20 fathoms in marine areas 4 (east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line) through 13.
• Close fishing seasons that allow retention of hatchery-reared steelhead a month earlier on a stretch of the Skagit River and two weeks earlier on portions of several other north Puget Sound rivers including the Pilchuck, Raging, Skykomish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Stillaguamish, Nooksack and north, south and middle Nooksack rivers, as well as Pilchuck creek. All of those rivers would close to retention of hatchery steelhead at the end of the day on Feb. 15 under proposals designed to further efforts to conserve and restore Puget Sound wild steelhead, which are listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.

So if you want a say in how our fishery is managed, now is the time to take action.  Kind of like when the election comes around, this is your time to complain and make a difference so get on it!