Take Action - Ray's Boathouse Serving Wild Steelhead
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 12:04AM 
Ray's Boathouse has Olympic Peninsula wild steelhead on their menu.
Here is a letter courtesy of Osprey Steelhead News that you can e-mail to Ray's to let them know it is just not cool to be serving wild steelhead. If you're not from the area you should still send an e-mail and add that you will not patronize Ray's if you ever visit the Seattle area unless they stop the practice.
Send to rays@rays.com
Hello,
It has come to my attention that your restaurant is serving wild steelhead from the Queets River (and presumably other rivers) from the Quinault Indian Tribe. Wild steelhead are endangered species act listed throughout much of their range in the United States. In Washington State, stocks of steelhead in the Columbia River, Snake River, and all of Puget Sound have been listed under the ESA within the last 20 years. Steelhead in other areas in Washington continue to decline. In coastal areas on the Olympic Peninsula where the Quinaults and other tribes fish, rivers are largely protected in the Olympic National Park, so freshwater habitat is in very good condition. Yet in recent years several of the rivers including the Hoh, Queets, Quileute (including the Sol Duc, Bogahciel and Calawah), and others, have failed to meet the minimum spawning escapement goals established by the state. The Hoh river has failed to meet its goal the majority of years recently, and in 2009 none of the above mentioned rivers met their goals, and the Queets missed its goal by more than 1/2, meaning that less than half the minimum number of fish needed to spawn to produce the next generation did so. This failure to meet escapement goals is a major conservation issue and could result in coastal stocks being ESA listed eventually too. Yet it is totally preventable. In all of the cases where escapement goals were not met, had tribal harvest been curtailed, escapement would have been met, meaning that the run was large enough to meet the goals but due to irresponsible and unsustainable tribal overharvest, the runs did not meet their goals. I am very disappointed to see your fine restaurant supporting this unsustainable harvest of wild steelhead and would ask that your restaurant take it off the menu immediately. All of the data I have referenced above is available from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife if you would like to see it for yourself. Please stop serving wild steelhead. Thank you.
Sincerely,
xxxxxx
(Via: Osprey Steelhead News)
Thanks for the help.
El Guapo
Whistling past the graveyard
If you sent an email to Ray's boathouse yesterday regarding their decision to serve steelhead on their menu, chances are you got a form letter from Peter Birk explaining that Ray's is committed to providing sustainable locally harvested sea food to its customers and that steelhead are not ESA listed on the Peninsula and therefore the fishery is sustainable. While the point is valid we have to ask ourselves, do we really want to be harvesting the last non-listed stocks of wild steelhead in Washington State.
Reader Comments (22)
Done, on both counts.
Done and done.
If you really want to make a statement, mail it to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and tell them to discontinue allowable harvest of 1 wild steelhead per angler per year on select Olympic Peninsula rivers.
This is a little overboard. A similar post was made last year about wild steelhead on Pike Place Market.
If wild fish are to be harvested and marketed for common man's food, at least it should stay local. Not like commercialized catch of wild salmon which are processed, frozen and shipped to every Costco store across America.
Done, did get "Out of Office auto reply
Done and done.
Also done and done.
Bastards. I recently went there and spoke with one of their servers about the Wild Steelhead on the menu. She proudly informed me they were from south east Alaska. She likely either didn't really know, had been lied to, or was lying herself.
Thank you for your concern regarding the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are currently offering as a special in our restaurant. We agree 100% with your position that serving unsustainable, endangered and threatened fish is damaging to the future of wild fish and our environment. We actively support organizations, such as Long Live the Kings and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, who work toward preserving our natural resources.
The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are serving has been sustainably caught by the Quileute Tribe from the Quileute River and purchased through Key City Fish. The Steelhead is a combination of both hatchery and wild stock that has spawned naturally. Since November 1, 2010, we have served about 134 fish. Many Steelhead populations are indeed endangered or threatened and should absolutely be completely avoided, such as those on the California Coast, Oregon Coast, Snake River, and Puget Sound. However, the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead population is healthy, robust and absolutely not threatened. For confirmation of this please visit NOAA’s website at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/Steelhead/.
The Quileute Tribe is closely partnered with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to aggressively manage this fishery. The state and tribe worked together to produce the Salmon Stock Inventory (SaSI) in 1992. The SaSI is a critical document for wild fish recovery and definitively identifies the status of each wild stock in categories ranging from extinct to healthy. The state and tribe actively works with citizens to catalogue details about habitat and map fish stock distributions. I can assure you that everyone involved, from tribe to state to restaurant, has a vested interest in the preservation of this fish.
There is considerable conflict between sport and commercial fishermen regarding the regulation of steelhead fishing and we completely understand the frustrations of both sides. We want to stress, though, that the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead we have served was sustainably and legally caught according to the regulations set forth by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and is not endangered or threatened according to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
Ray’s Boathouse would absolutely never serve endangered or threatened fish. Thank you for your feedback. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Best,
Peter Birk, Executive Chef | Ray’s Boathouse, Café & Catering
6049 Seaview Avenue NW | Seattle, WA 98107
206.789.3770 | www.rays.com | rays@rays.com
Ray's response:
I already received a reply.
Dear Derek,
Thank you for your concern regarding the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are currently offering as a special in our restaurant. We agree 100% with your position that serving unsustainable, endangered and threatened fish is damaging to the future of wild fish and our environment. We actively support organizations, such as Long Live the Kings and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, who work toward preserving our natural resources.
The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are serving has been sustainably caught by the Quileute Tribe from the Quileute River and purchased through Key City Fish. The Steelhead is a combination of both hatchery and wild stock that has spawned naturally. Since November 1, 2010, we have served about 134 fish. Many Steelhead populations are indeed endangered or threatened and should absolutely be completely avoided, such as those on the California Coast, Oregon Coast, Snake River, and Puget Sound. However, the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead population is healthy, robust and absolutely not threatened. For confirmation of this please visit NOAA’s website at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/Steelhead/.
The Quileute Tribe is closely partnered with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to aggressively manage this fishery. The state and tribe worked together to produce the Salmon Stock Inventory (SaSI) in 1992. The SaSI is a critical document for wild fish recovery and definitively identifies the status of each wild stock in categories ranging from extinct to healthy. The state and tribe actively works with citizens to catalogue details about habitat and map fish stock distributions. I can assure you that everyone involved, from tribe to state to restaurant, has a vested interest in the preservation of this fish.
There is considerable conflict between sport and commercial fishermen regarding the regulation of steelhead fishing and we completely understand the frustrations of both sides. We want to stress, though, that the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead we have served was sustainably and legally caught according to the regulations set forth by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and is not endangered or threatened according to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
Ray’s Boathouse would absolutely never serve endangered or threatened fish. Thank you for your feedback. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Best,
Peter Birk, Executive Chef | Ray’s Boathouse, Café & Catering
6049 Seaview Avenue NW | Seattle, WA 98107
206.789.3770 | www.rays.com | rays@rays.com
I suppose you have received this reply, as i did after sending the letter to Ray's:
Thank you for your concern regarding the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are currently offering as a special in our restaurant. We agree 100% with your position that serving unsustainable, endangered and threatened fish is damaging to the future of wild fish and our environment. We actively support organizations, such as Long Live the Kings and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, who work toward preserving our natural resources.
The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are serving has been sustainably caught by the Quileute Tribe from the Quileute River and purchased through Key City Fish. The Steelhead is a combination of both hatchery and wild stock that has spawned naturally. Since November 1, 2010, we have served about 134 fish. Many Steelhead populations are indeed endangered or threatened and should absolutely be completely avoided, such as those on the California Coast, Oregon Coast, Snake River, and Puget Sound. However, the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead population is healthy, robust and absolutely not threatened. For confirmation of this please visit NOAA’s website at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/Steelhead/.
The Quileute Tribe is closely partnered with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to aggressively manage this fishery. The state and tribe worked together to produce the Salmon Stock Inventory (SaSI) in 1992. The SaSI is a critical document for wild fish recovery and definitively identifies the status of each wild stock in categories ranging from extinct to healthy. The state and tribe actively works with citizens to catalogue details about habitat and map fish stock distributions. I can assure you that everyone involved, from tribe to state to restaurant, has a vested interest in the preservation of this fish.
There is considerable conflict between sport and commercial fishermen regarding the regulation of steelhead fishing and we completely understand the frustrations of both sides. We want to stress, though, that the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead we have served was sustainably and legally caught according to the regulations set forth by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and is not endangered or threatened according to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
Ray’s Boathouse would absolutely never serve endangered or threatened fish. Thank you for your feedback. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Thier response. Can you believe this?
Dear Todd,
Thank you for your concern regarding the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are currently offering as a special in our restaurant. We agree 100% with your position that serving unsustainable, endangered and threatened fish is damaging to the future of wild fish and our environment. We actively support organizations, such as Long Live the Kings and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, who work toward preserving our natural resources.
The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are serving has been sustainably caught by the Quileute Tribe from the Quileute River and purchased through Key City Fish. The Steelhead is a combination of both hatchery and wild stock that has spawned naturally. Since November 1, 2010, we have served about 134 fish. Many Steelhead populations are indeed endangered or threatened and should absolutely be completely avoided, such as those on the California Coast, Oregon Coast, Snake River, and Puget Sound. However, the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead population is healthy, robust and absolutely not threatened. For confirmation of this please visit NOAA’s website at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/Steelhead/.
The Quileute Tribe is closely partnered with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to aggressively manage this fishery. The state and tribe worked together to produce the Salmon Stock Inventory (SaSI) in 1992. The SaSI is a critical document for wild fish recovery and definitively identifies the status of each wild stock in categories ranging from extinct to healthy. The state and tribe actively works with citizens to catalogue details about habitat and map fish stock distributions. I can assure you that everyone involved, from tribe to state to restaurant, has a vested interest in the preservation of this fish.
There is considerable conflict between sport and commercial fishermen regarding the regulation of steelhead fishing and we completely understand the frustrations of both sides. We want to stress, though, that the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead we have served was sustainably and legally caught according to the regulations set forth by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and is not endangered or threatened according to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
Ray’s Boathouse would absolutely never serve endangered or threatened fish. Thank you for your feedback. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Best,
Peter Birk, Executive Chef | Ray’s Boathouse, Café & Catering
6049 Seaview Avenue NW | Seattle, WA 98107
206.789.3770 | www.rays.com | rays@rays.com
Here is our email chain:
Hello,
I noticed that you guys have been serving wild steelhead on your menu as of late. These fish are coming from rivers with unhealthy declining populations of steelhead. The Olympic Peninsula is one of the last areas on earth that receives healthy runs of wild winter steelhead. Please consider removing steelhead as a menu item in order to help preserve their populations.
Maybe you could replace the steelhead with another item such as salmon caught from a sustainable fishery. King salmon can be marketed similarity to steelhead as they occurs in much lower numbers than sockeye and offer a unique flavor which is high in oils. Attached is a salmon cake recipe we use at the fishing lodge I work for, its the best I've tried out of maybe a dozen recipes. I'm not sure if you already have one on the menu but it might be worth putting together for a lunch item or maybe an app. Sometimes I like to cut down on the added fats if the fish is an ocean king vs. maybe a river caught silver.
Thank you for your time,
Andy Simon
Dear Andy,
Thank you for your concern regarding the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are currently offering as a special in our restaurant. We agree 100% with your position that serving unsustainable, endangered and threatened fish is damaging to the future of wild fish and our environment. We actively support organizations, such as Long Live the Kings and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, who work toward preserving our natural resources.
The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are serving has been sustainably caught by the Quileute Tribe from the Quileute River and purchased through Key City Fish. The Steelhead is a combination of both hatchery and wild stock that has spawned naturally. Since November 1, 2010, we have served about 134 fish. Many Steelhead populations are indeed endangered or threatened and should absolutely be completely avoided, such as those on the California Coast, Oregon Coast, Snake River, and Puget Sound. However, the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead population is healthy, robust and absolutely not threatened. For confirmation of this please visit NOAA’s website at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/Steelhead/.
The Quileute Tribe is closely partnered with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife to aggressively manage this fishery. The state and tribe worked together to produce the Salmon Stock Inventory (SaSI) in 1992. The SaSI is a critical document for wild fish recovery and definitively identifies the status of each wild stock in categories ranging from extinct to healthy. The state and tribe actively works with citizens to catalogue details about habitat and map fish stock distributions. I can assure you that everyone involved, from tribe to state to restaurant, has a vested interest in the preservation of this fish.
There is considerable conflict between sport and commercial fishermen regarding the regulation of steelhead fishing and we completely understand the frustrations of both sides. We want to stress, though, that the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead we have served was sustainably and legally caught according to the regulations set forth by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and is not endangered or threatened according to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
Ray’s Boathouse would absolutely never serve endangered or threatened fish. Thank you for your feedback. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Best,
Peter Birk, Executive Chef | Ray’s Boathouse, Café & Catering
6049 Seaview Avenue NW | Seattle, WA 98107
206.789.3770 | www.rays.com | rays@rays.com
Dear Peter,
You said:
We agree 100% with your position that serving unsustainable, endangered and threatened fish is damaging to the future of wild fish and our environment.
Then you said:
However, the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead population is healthy, robust and absolutely not threatened.
Your first statement is right on mark, but the idea that the Olympic Peninsula steelhead population is healthy, robust, and no threatened is false and can be proven so by scientific data. NOAA's listing of Olympic Pen. steelhead as not threatened dates from 1996, 15 years ago when ocean conditions were more favorable and tribal netting was conducted on a smaller scale. The Hoh River has not met minimum wild steelhead escapement goals (i.e. the lowest number of steelhead the biologists determined need to be allowed to survive and spawn to insure the fish maintain a healthy population) 80% of the last 15 years.
Whether you have served 1 or 1,000 wild steelhead, supporting an unsustainable fishery is a poor choice. I realize you must be busy, but take 15 minutes and do a google scholar search of Olympic Peninsula steelhead status reports for the last 15 years, and you will discover that this is not a sustainable fishery. Seattle is known for environmentally conscience people who form a brilliant community who cares for and values their place. How does your restaurant fit into this community? Have you considered that the choice to serve wild steelhead might bring enough negative pr to decrease your business? Have you also considered that removing the menu item, publicly, might increase your restaurants profile as a conscious business that operates with respect to our ecosystem? You used the words "our environment", implying you understand that humans hold a connection and obligation to preserve our home. There is a large community of anglers and non-anglers who choose only to support businesses that conform to their environmental ethic.
The Hoh River winter steelhead population is not healthy, yet could return to abundance if tribal netting was stopped. The other rivers surrounding the Hoh have also failed to meet escapement more years than not during the last 15 years. There is a current push to list Olympic Pen. steelhead on the endangers species list along with the rest of the populations that have already been listed. This fish is in declined across its range and cannot support a commercial fishery of any kind. Sadly we might love our steelhead to death, following the path of the Japanese eel or Pacific herring. Please consider the current science, and the community that you participate in, before continuing to serve wild steelhead.
Thank you,
Andy
Seems his science is a bit outdated
"The Olympic Peninsula Steelhead that we are serving has been sustainably caught by the Quileute Tribe from the Quileute River and purchased through Key City Fish. The Steelhead is a combination of both hatchery and wild stock that has spawned naturally. Since November 1, 2010, we have served about 134 fish."
This is a paragraph taken from that letter. I want Peter to prove to me how he knows the fish he serves is a combination of hatchery and wild stock. Maybe thats the taste his consumers like best.
What's he going to sell when they're all gone?
If you really care, stop fishing for steelhead and then send the letter. And No, C&R is not supporting the remaing stocks. C&R kills fish too - a very low percentage only if practiced by experts, but nonetheless a few fish die.
I got an idea. Go punch the manager in his fat fucking face.
Got an email back. The exec chef informed me they have stopped serving wild steelhead and thank you for the concern.
They have decided to stop serving wild steelhead per their head chef.
Dear William,
Thank you for your feedback. We are no longer serving Steelhead. We will continue to work hard to find truly sustainable sources for our products and appreciate your comments at any time. Thank you for your time and passion on this very important issue.
Best,
Peter Birk, Executive Chef | Ray’s Boathouse, Café & Catering
6049 Seaview Avenue NW | Seattle, WA 98107
206.789.3770 | www.rays.com | rays@rays.com
________________________________________________
Just emailed them and got this response.
Chop the y axis at 4000, run a simple linear regression w/o the e term and add a p value for chum sake! Whats the point of using stats if your not fully reporting?! this is the kind of crap that makes conservation biologists look like pseudo-scientists!
Hey are you guys getting the same response I got after the form letter? They have stopped serving steelhead and will seek to better serve the public with sustainably caught fish that are not in danger of decline. You really should give these guys props for so quickly listening to reason!