I greatly enjoyed reading that information from WDFW. I am in favor of a
hatchery-supplemented program when broodstock is limited to unmarked, wild
adults. This is something they have been doing successfully in BC with
steelhead for many years now and also there is a small program that has had
success on the Sol Duc (Snyder Creek) that is conducted in a similar way.
My beef about the salmon enhancement on the upper Yakima is not at all the
open fishery for harvesting the salmon, it is the competition for food by
the juvenile salmon that are "artificially" introduced in mass quantities
into the stream where our beloved trout are tryting to find sufficient food
to survive the winter.
I do not know the numbers that are being released from these holding ponds,
into the Yakima R. proper, but would guess it to be in the hundreds of
thousands if not millions. That is not going to bode well for the resident
rainbows that have settled into a stable population based on the exisiting
ecosystem of the Yakima and what it is able to support in terms of trout
food supply vs. demand.
That is the area I would have liked to have seen more write-up on from the
department. I think they are mistaking the trout fishers' concerns with the
open season of harvest of returning salmon adults rather than the
competition for food that will occur by the artificial introduction of
potentially millions of hungry salmon for a period of time before smolting.
This period of time, even if it is only a couple months, is very likely long
enough to upset the natural feeding balance currently in the river. This
starvation period, I believe, will be the demise of the trout. Not the
spring fishing season.
-------------------------------------------------------
David Weitl mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Poulsbo, Washington WA Statewide Fishing Reports
http://www.nwfishing.com
"The gods do not deduct from a man's allotted span
the hours spent in fishing"
-- Babylonian Proverb
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Embry [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2000 7:01 AM
To: Washington Flyfishers
Subject: Fw: YAKIMA CHINOOK FISHING
A friend of mine sent a lengthy letter to the DFW regarding the salmon
program initiated in the Yakima River, and here is the response he received.
Richard Embry
>Subject: YAKIMA CHINOOK FISHING
>
>
>> August 9, 2000
>>
>> The Fish and Wildlife Commission, Director Koenings and Fish Program (FP)
>staff apologize for the delay in responding to your e-mail concerning the
>upper Yakima River spring chinook salmon fishery. The large number of
>e-mails received from concerned citizens, combined with the complexity and
>variety of the issues raised, contributed to the delay. FP staff needed
>sufficient time to thoroughly respond to all topics and organize the
>following response. Thank you for your patience.
>>
balance deleted..
