Wild Steelhead Need More Advocates!

Wild Steelhead Need More Advocates
by Jack W. Berryman

West Coast wild steelhead populations are disappearing at an alarming rate and if more advocates do not join the fight to save them, they will surely be gone forever. This advocacy must come from those who care most about these magnificent fish. To know them is to love them! And, for the most part, the largest and most knowledgeable potential advocacy group is steelhead anglers.

Read more (Via: The Wild Steelhead Coalition)

Comments

[Rob Russell, steelhead advocate]

Steelhead do need more advocates, no doubt. And the steelhead coalition is a wonderful organization doing great things. But can somebody please back up the statement that "steelhead populations are disappearing at an alarming rate?" Maybe give me an example? I have my ear to the ground on this subject--have for the last couple of decades, and what I have seen is that steelhead are: 1) holding on in the southern end of their range despite incrediblly hostile habitats; 2) expanding their range northward into the arctic, and 3) being taken more and more seriously as a species to protect. Puget Sound is suffering, no doubt. Is that what we're talking about here?

By no means to I intend to undermine efforts to protect and restore populations that are clearly at risk. But this kind of alarmist crap pisses me off. It is misleading and makes us all look like dicks.

There is not a chance that steelhead will be "gone forever." And I feel strongly, as a staunch steelhead advocate, that such misleading rhetoric is irresponsible. We can do better than that. How about being honest?

Okay...ready for the shit storm...bring it on. But before you go off half-cocked, please do your homework.

[Rob Russell, steelhead advocate]

As is usual for me, I may be hanging up on semantics. "Disappearing at an alarming rate" might mean different things to different people. I look at these rivers and their populations and I don't see many, if any, that have actually "disappeared." Many have been severely depleted, but to me that's not the same. I see survivors, and I see people waking up and doing more and more to fix broken watersheds.

There has been, and will be, severe loss of habitat. And the specific troubles steelhead face throughtout their range are considerable. But I do not think the Hoh is a suitable example of a disappearing steelhead population. That river is solidly protected, and the netting, as hard as it is to stand, is not going to be responsible for the disappearance of Hoh steelhead.

Nor do I see the populations of Northern Cal. disaapearing. One important point that is missing from Rivers of a Lost Coast is an update on No. Cal steelhead and salmon populations. While the film toured the West, openly claiming the loss of these popluations, anglers were reporting excellent fishing in the Eel, Smith, Chetco, etc. Dams are coming out. Fish are cycling back up, at least temporarily.

So, again, my point is that a sky-is-falling message, while it may be effective for raising money, is just not accurate. I want to say "in my opinion," but I think the facts speak for themselves.

[Rob Russell, steelhead advocate]

Jack's call to action spells it out clearly, and I just stamped a big red "DUMBASS" on my forehead. His concise facts and figures cannot be disputed, and it is I who needed to get to my homework.

[Steelhead Advocate]

You could have spent 20 minutes writing an email that actually does something instead of bitching about it here and further "undermining" efforts.

Your facts are incorrect.

I will take the other 18 minutes and put it towards helping Wild Steelhead out.

[Bert Brehm]

But can somebody please back up the statement that "steelhead populations are disappearing at an alarming rate?" Maybe give me an example?

Curious question from a man of your background and experience. By way of an answer, Jack Berryman referenced Puget Sound, the Olympic Pennisula, Northern California and the Skeena watershed. I'll add the Thompson Nicola system. Clearly the populations for wild fish in these rivers is trending down. Perhaps you were considering hatchery or broodstock fish.

The Wall Street banksters refer to the dead-cat-bounce where a worthless security shows a pitiful up-tick when it's value hits bottom.

The sky is falling. Stop killing wild fish in all river systems and blow up any worthless dams. Trophy hunting, incidental bycatch, treaty rights, ceremonial fish and, yes, even catch and release are code words used to justify unnecessary harvest of a depressed resource. I'd rather err toward vocal and indignant versus mute and polite.

[Rob Russell, steelhead advocate]

Yeah, I really shit the bed in my first comment. Wish I could re-write it, but what's done is done. I stand by the assertion that steelhead populations are not "disappearing," but I know that's a semantic argument with no real value, and that won't hold any consolation for Puget Sound anglers who have seen their steelhead populations plummet. Time will tell whether this is a long-term situation or part of a larger cycle.

I remain hopeful. When I was a kid, the conventional wisdom was that SoCal steelies were done. Well, that was not correct. Just like the doom and gloom of Rivers of a Lost Coast incorrectly characterizes those rivers as lost causes. Those rivers have seen a tremendous rebound recently, largely thanks to a benevolent ocean (so it's temporary and cyclic). And we have dams coming out. Very hopeful and exciting to me.

But the Puget Sound Country and the extension of that ecosystem northward into BC is incredibly complex, with complex problems. Hatcheries and pollution seem to be the big limiting factors, but even those may not really explain what we've seen in recent years. The good news is that steelhead can persist and even thrive at very low population levels. And the best returns can come from very low brood years.

My apologies to anyone I've offended with my stupid comments. I will always be committed to bringing back wild steelhead, and every year more and more of my vacation time goes to attending public meetings and beating my head against the forces of industry.

[Rathbun]

Rob, you're passionate and your heart's in the right place. No need to appologize - we're with you not against you. Thanks for weighing in amigo and keep up all the great work you do in the Northwest.