troutdude
Moderator
Food for thought, from a friends Facebook page:
"After a compromise agreement between sport anglers, the fish regulators of Oregon and Washington, and the commercial fleet we find out the hard way that agreements mean nothing to the governor appointed fish commissioners of Washington State. The sport fishing industry once again gets the ol' knife-in-the-back treatment from these folks. We sport anglers agreed to pay a fee for the privilege of fishing access to the Columbia River in order to provide a fund to insure the commercial fleet was kept whole as part of the agreement. We also agreed to allocate a significant portion of hatchery production that would otherwise have been available to all (including sport anglers) so as to enhance the fish availability for the gill netters. We even agreed to using barbless hooks when fishing the Columbia in order to reduce hooking mortality. The agreement guaranteed a more equitable share of fish between all stakeholders. Now, WDFW reverts back to pre-agreement allocations that favor the commercial fleet significantly and does so at the expense of the sport fishing industry. Shame on them. Shame on Governor Inslee who appointed them, and shame on the legislators who only care about who butters their bread best. Perhaps it's time to demand our Columbia River Endorsement fees be refunded. Perhaps it's time to demand our hatcheries return to full production for everyone, not just a few. Perhaps it's time to demand fishing license fees be commensurate with fishing opportunity. And perhaps it's time for a corruption investigation into the workings of the commission and supporting members of government."
"After a compromise agreement between sport anglers, the fish regulators of Oregon and Washington, and the commercial fleet we find out the hard way that agreements mean nothing to the governor appointed fish commissioners of Washington State. The sport fishing industry once again gets the ol' knife-in-the-back treatment from these folks. We sport anglers agreed to pay a fee for the privilege of fishing access to the Columbia River in order to provide a fund to insure the commercial fleet was kept whole as part of the agreement. We also agreed to allocate a significant portion of hatchery production that would otherwise have been available to all (including sport anglers) so as to enhance the fish availability for the gill netters. We even agreed to using barbless hooks when fishing the Columbia in order to reduce hooking mortality. The agreement guaranteed a more equitable share of fish between all stakeholders. Now, WDFW reverts back to pre-agreement allocations that favor the commercial fleet significantly and does so at the expense of the sport fishing industry. Shame on them. Shame on Governor Inslee who appointed them, and shame on the legislators who only care about who butters their bread best. Perhaps it's time to demand our Columbia River Endorsement fees be refunded. Perhaps it's time to demand our hatcheries return to full production for everyone, not just a few. Perhaps it's time to demand fishing license fees be commensurate with fishing opportunity. And perhaps it's time for a corruption investigation into the workings of the commission and supporting members of government."
