April 7, 2000
Contact: Pat Pattillo, 360-902-2705

Public processes shape responsible salmon
seasons amid strong conservation efforts

PORTLAND- -Salmon seasons set here this week will provide sport fishing opportunities for anglers for healthy hatchery stocks while ensuring that wild salmon are protected.

"We worked very hard to find ways to keep sport, commercial and tribal fishers on the water while meeting our responsibilities under the law and as good stewards to protect weak wild stocks," said Phil Anderson, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's chief of Intergovernmental Affairs.

The fishing seasons were set today after a lengthy public process that began in February. In Portland this week, the Pacific Fishery Management Council set ocean fishing seasons while state and tribal co-managers set the seasons for Puget Sound and other state waters in the North of Falcon process.

Anderson emphasized that harvests expected in 2000 are consistent with broader salmon recovery efforts, set out in Gov. Gary Locke's Extinction Is Not An Option plan. The plan addresses key factors limiting salmon recovery such as the degraded condition of many state rivers that result in the premature death of millions of young salmon before they reach salt water.

The WDFW official also said the agency worked closely with the National Marine Fisheries Service, which implements the federal Endangered Species Act, to ensure adequate protection for listed stocks, such as Puget Sound chinook. NMFS is expected to formally approve this year's fisheries that focus on hatchery fish and ensure recovery of threatened stocks.

"Through efficiencies, we've been able to maximize seasons and opportunities while significantly reducing the catch of weak stocks," Anderson said.

Therefore, anglers will have to target their efforts carefully this year to take advantage of the fishing opportunities. Highlights of this year's opportunities include:

Sport fishing opportunities also will be available throughout Puget Sound, Anderson said. To maximize Puget Sound fishing opportunities, anglers also can expect:

"Commercial and tribal fishers have similar limitations to protect wild runs this year," he emphasized.

In addition to problems with wild chinook, WDFW fish biologists have noticed runs of hatchery as well as wild coho to southern Puget Sound have been declining since the 1980s and 1999 returns were the lowest on record. WDFW is working with tribal and University of Washington scientists in an effort to determine the cause.

This year's forecast for all Puget Sound coho stocks is just 45 percent of last year's preseason forecast. All wild coho runs, including those returning to the Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers as well as those flowing into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Hood Canal are expected to return at low levels. On the ocean, fishing seasons have been shaped to protect wild Queets River coho, which are expected to be in poor condition this year.

Marine area fishing seasons this year are:

Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco):

Marine Area 2 (Westport-Ocean Shores):

Marine Area 2.1 (Willapa Bay):

Marine Area 2.2 (Grays Harbor):

Marine Area 3 (LaPush):

Marine Area 4 (Neah Bay):

Marine Area 5 (Sekiu and Pillar Point) and Marine Area 6 (East Strait Juan de Fuca):

Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands):

Marine Area 8-1 (Deception Pass, Hope Island, Skagit Bay):

Marine Area 8-2 (Port Susan and Port Gardner):

Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet):

Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton):

Marine Area 11 (Tacoma-Vashon):

Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal):

Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound):