Fishstarter - Wild Reverence

Here's your chance to help raise awareness about wild steelhead.

Shane Anderson has just launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise some needed funds to finish his film Wild Reverence, a documentary chronicling the plight of wild steelhead along the west coast of America.

LINK (via: Kickstarter)

One of the spiffs for pledging at least $75 for Wild Reverence is this sweet print of the film's movie poster done by Grateful Dead artist Scott McDougall.

8 Legs are Better than None

Following a public outcry after a diver strangled an octopus in Seattle last October, the Washington Fish and Wildlife commission implemented new rules restricting the recreational hunting of giant Pacific octopuses at seven popular diving sites. This, despite the octopus population being healthy and rules allowing a person with a valid state fishing license to harvest one giant Pacific octopus per day in most of Puget Sound.

Meanwhile, the very same Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission refuses to re-consider a rules change that would put a stop to the retention of wild steelhead. In 2004 the commission enacted a two year statewide ban on keeping wild steelhead but chose to walk back the rule in spite of supporters outnumbering opponents three-to-one at the committee hearing.

Somehow a public outcry works for the protection of Washington's giant octopi but not for its state fish.

State officials tout the Wind River as a showcase for wild steelhead recovery

The stocking of hatchery-origin steelhead in the Wind River ended in 1998.

LINK (via: The Columbian)

Perhaps a few more hatcheries need to go?

(Some) Anglers surly over potential steelhead changes

 

Federal fishery officials, along with Washington's 2008 Statewide Steelhead Management Plan, are calling for designation of a network of watersheds for wild steelhead so the wild genetics are not diluted by hatchery fish.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has started the process of developing a regional management plan for steelhead in the North Fork Lewis, East Fork Lewis and Washougal rivers along with Salmon Creek.

One of the outcomes of this process likely will be elimination of hatchery steelhead releases in one of the streams in order to create a genetic bank for wild fish.

Some anglers are not happy about losing their hatchery plants.

Sounds like lost fishing opportunity,'' said Keith Hyde, president of the Columbia River chapter of the Association of Northwest Steelheaders.

Clark County has a big population of aging anglers who have a long history of fishing the local streams, Hyde added.

"Our goal is a balance of recovery of wild fish and still providing as much opportunity as we can,'' Glaser said.

LINK (via: The Columbian)

There are 178 some odd hatchery programs throughout Washington and our wild steelhead runs continue their decline towards extinction. How's that working out for everybody? Supporting the WDFW's modest steelhead management plan would be a logical first step for any group that really cares about the recovery of wild fish, the current strategy is clearly not working. 

Skeena sockeye Fishery Notice

Some potentially good news for Skeena steelhead.

LINK (via: North Coast Steelhead Alliance)

Wild San Francisquito Creek Steelhead Pair Underwater- Winter 2013

A pair of wild steelhead in lower San Francisquito Creek, between Palo Alto and Menlo Park, Ca. This pair successfully spawned. The end of the clip shows the redd (or nest) they dug into the clean cobbles and gravels where fertilized eggs incubate.

Four adult steelhead were observed by creekside residents. Unfortunately, one 27-inch steelhead was seen illegally poached and the other three are trapped as water levels dropped and became to shallow to swim upstream or downstream. As the water disappears the fate of these fish and their unhatched eggs is uncertain. Upstream dams and diversions owned by Stanford University and California Water Company, as well as pumping from groundwater wells, contribute to the reduction of stream flows that are essential for these threatened fish to survive. Stanford's Searsville Dam remains the only impassable dam in the watershed and also lacks any dedicated flow releases to protect fish and wildlife downstream.

Find out more about the grassroots coalition advocating for Stanford to remove their antiquated Searsville Dam and upgrade their harmful private water system to one that is modern, reliable, low-impact, and meets current environmental regulations:

BeyondSearsvilleDam.org