I've been reading this thread and it is depressing. I don't know those waters well, but all the same I feel for you folks and the fish.
I pulled this out because I understand the "realizing that I'm done for the season" and "what will I do" comments. I realized a couple years ago the whole fishery was pretty much a bust over here anymore. Two winters have gone by now since I touched one. Just not worth it other than to be out. Were down to 200-500 fish, depending on the year, and 70% don't even enter the systems till after the 4/15 closure.
It's not the same but, we decided yesterday were going to focus more on walleye, take the kids on the boat and make use of those dams for something other than bass fishing. Luckily I've got the grand kids and for a few years I can focus on them and trout fishing as a suitable substitute this time of year.
I really hope they figure it out. I'd like to be able to take them out with a chance for the most majestic of fish when they get bigger and stronger.
All good thoughts. I've gotten back into chasing searun Cutts in the Sound, but late winter is kind of a down time for those. That should improve soon, with the emergence of chum fry....
You mentioned "figuring it out." For sure, steelhead are a tougher nut to crack than salmon. Salmon are food fish, so they're doomed to be harvested at every opportunity. Not hard to understand how that results in perennially low returns; indeed, that's by design. Any escaped spawners beyond the basement-level escapement goal is deemed a wasted or forgone opportunity.
Steelhead are classified as gamefish, which exempts them from management models that seek to harvest every available fish, and also from non-tribal commercial fishing. Further, non-tribal sport anglers are no longer allowed to harvest wild steelhead in any fishery. Why, then, do their numbers continue to decline, despite such low harvest pressure?
I think it comes down to the fact that the bare minimum number of spawning salmon it takes to provide the fisheries we want is not enough salmon to support the ecological systems in which they are the keystone species. Dead salmon represent a critical nutrient contribution to our relatively sterile streams. Over the years, we've reduced that nutrient load significantly, and I believe it's reached a point at which there's simply not enough left to sustain the ecosystems. Degraded stream habitat is a major, limiting factor, but my observation has been that habitat is used as an excuse for irresponsible overharvest, more and more as returns shrink.
It's been said that "God don't make no junk." There's a very good reason our rivers had so many salmon in them when white settlers first showed up here. For us to assume that was just God being a bad businessperson and being inefficient is the height of human arrogance. Of course, nobody really believes that, but when economic factors are considered, science tends to get "bent" to suit market needs....
I really believe we could make an immediate, meaningful impact on all our endangered runs by reducing commercial harvest of salmon by even 10%. Seems like it's worth a try to me, but then, I don't work in an industry that requires me to harvest fish to sustain my livelihood....
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