Tag Archives: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon and Washington – Crab quality, quantity, prices all good
It’s only a few days into this year’s commercial Dungeness crab season and fishermen already believe they are looking at a better run than last year. Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, won’t have initial landing numbers for another week or so but, he said, “The word we’re getting from the fleet is that it looks better than last year.” After getting the all-clear from state health departments, commercial Dungeness crab fishermen finally hit the water Jan. 4 after being delayed for weeks due to elevated levels of the marine toxin domoic acid. Read the article here 19:04
Adding Insult to Injury of a Late Start, Coast Guard keeps watch over crab fleet
Wildlife officers got a bird’s eye view of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery opening, courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard. The C-130 Hercules motored north along the Washington state coastline in the wee hours of a frigid New Year’s Day. The plane turned off all but its navigation lights to be stealthier. “It looks like the gear is all on board,” she says, marking another vessel, stacked high with crab pots, as non-suspicious before quickly moving onto the next. Read the article here 16:08Willapa Bay gillnetters lock horns with state over Salmon Fishing Policy
Drought hit Willapa Bay salmon runs hard this year while questions remain about how a new commercial salmon fishing policy affects local fishermen. At a recent meeting at Naselle High School, representatives from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife expected to field questions regarding the die-off of approximately 10,000 salmon below the Naselle Hatchery due to low stream flow and other drought-related factors this fall. Instead, they spent most of the time hearing concerns from commercial gillnet fishermen living on both sides of the Columbia River regarding the salmon fishing policy that went into effect earlier this year. Read the article here 08:09
Washington again delays commercial crabbing on south coast
Commercial crab fishing continues to be delayed on a portion of Washington’s southern coast. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday that tests show crabs from the area are safe to eat. But the agency decided with Oregon and California to delay crabbing there to prevent too many crabbers from overwhelming the small area. Read the article here 20:42
Washington Fish and Wildlife seize nearly 700 illegal crab pots
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and tribal police seized 674 illegal crab pots from the waters off Blaine. Twelve WDFW agents and four officers from Tulalip Police conducted the two-day sweep. WDFW sergeant Russ Mullins led the investigation. Mullins said the department tries to run a sweep for illegal Canadian crab pots in every other year. “Typically, we have a problem with Canadian commercial fishermen operating in our waters without licenses,” he said. “This has been a historic problem for,,, Read the rest here 20:11
Marine toxins prompt expansion of crab-fishing closure on Washington coast
State shellfish managers today doubled the area of Washington’s coast closed to crab fishing after finding elevated levels of marine toxins in crab tested north to the Queets River. Effective immediately, recreational and commercial crab fishing is prohibited in 45 miles of coastal waters from Point Chehalis to the Queets River, expanding on a closure in effect since early June that extends 45 miles south to the Columbia River. Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), said the area now closed to crab fishing includes more than half the state’s 157-mile-long coast. Read the rest here 16:59
Willapa Bay Gillnetters begin legal challenge to new salmon management policy
A group of commercial gillnet fishermen filed a petition June 30, seeking judicial review of a new salmon 
policy on Willapa Bay. The Willapa Bay Gillnetters Association, represented by attorneys Ryen Godwin and Gregory Jacoby of Tacoma-based McGavick Graves, argues the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife acted outside of statuary authority when it placed restrictions on fishing times, place, manner and fishing method in the policy instead of in a rule. The attorneys also claim the department acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” Read the rest here 12:42
“Uncharted Territory” – Marine toxin closes Washington crab season
Washington fishery managers say they are in “uncharted territory” following the closure of a major ocean fishery off the state’s southern coast Friday. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it was closing the recreational and commercial Dungeness crab fisheries after samples of crab revealed unsafe levels of a harmful, naturally occurring marine toxin called domoic acid that has already shut down razor clam fisheries in both Oregon and Washington. Oregon Dungeness crab fisheries are still open. Read the rest here 12:37
Effective immediately South coast of Washington closed to crab fishing
WDFW announced the closure after routine testing showed domoic acid levels in crab exceeded standards established by the Washington State Department of Health. Domoic acid, a natural toxin produced by certain types of marine algae, can be harmful or even fatal if consumed in sufficient quantities. Cooking or freezing does not destroy domoic acid in shellfish. All crab gear must be removed from the closed areas by 12:01 a.m. June 10 or it will be subject to confiscation by Fish and Wildlife enforcement officers. Read the rest here 06:28
Fall chinook run shaping up to be third largest in modern era
Fishery managers with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are predicting an estimated return of 900,200 adult fall chinook. It would be the third largest return on record dating back to 1938. Returns in 2013 — a total of 1.2 million adults — remain the highest on record. Last year, the second highest return, came out to 1.1 million adults. Commercial and recreational fishermen alike reported an amazing season last year and Pacific County, Wash., ports were clogged with boats coming and going. Read the rest here 11:54
Former CCA Executive Director Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas Ignores The Fact That Commercial Fishermen Harvest Fish For The People
Liz Pike has written an op ed piece regarding the benefit of turning the fishery of the Lower Columbia river into a “World Class” sports fishing Mecca. Her view is that recreational fishermen are being short changed by commercial fishermen, and the “special treatment” allowed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife should be driven by economics, and the revenue generation contribution of the sport fishing industry. Commercial fishermen provide that resource to the people that own it. Its only right that they get the largest allocation. Commercial fishing ain’t a hobby. Read her Op-ed here 10:00
As the Fur Fly’s! Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: An agency split in two — twice
The man who has directed the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for the past six years is stepping down at the end of 2014, and he couldn’t have picked a better time. Or a worse one. ,, One of the department’s most highly decorated investigators started a petition after he retired to remove Anderson and two of the three highest-ranking enforcement officials — one of whom, Cenci, is a defendant in a federal civil-rights lawsuit over allegations from a commercial fishing family that he has harassed them for years. Read the rest here 11:36
Sturgeon population slowly improving in lower Columbia
State biologists estimate the population of legal-size sturgeon in the lower Columbia River increased 5 percent in 2014, the first year of a total ban on retention by sport and commercial fishermen. Read the rest here 14:05
West Coast Crabber’s trip cut short for numerous Safety Violations, Owner charged with Fishery Violations
The Coast Guard terminated the voyage of a commercial crab fishing vessel for numerous safety violations three miles west of Long Beach, Monday. A 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment in Ilwaco escorted the crew of the 58-foot fishing vessel Shearwater Two to Ilwaco following the vessel’s voyage termination. Read the rest here 17:35
The “salmon cannon” launches fish over man-made obstacles – Video
This is not a parody. It’s not even just a crazy Internet idea. It’s a real-life solution currently undergoing testing in Washington with the cooperation of the Department of Energy and the . <Read more here> 18:22
Who Let the Fish Out: Fish Hatcheries in the Pacific Northwest – vigilante fisherman? or some eco crazed fanatic?!!
Early in the morning of May 13th, 2014, an unknown fish vigilante stole into the Tokul Creek Fish Hatchery in the suburbs of Seattle and cut the padlocks on the juvenile steelhead trout pens, opening the passage between the hatchery and the river. Read more here 10:20
Washington and Oregon: Commercial salmon fishery open until Tuesday
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, NMFS in consultation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, representatives from the commercial troll fishery, and the Pacific Fishery Management Council, has taken in-season actions with respect to the commercial troll salmon fishery. Read more here 09:41
Gillnetters critique off-channel plan
Southwest Washington’s regional manager of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife came to Cathlamet Monday to discuss the start of a salmon net pen rearing project, and commercial fishermen used the opportunity to express their displeasure with changes to the Columbia River gillnet fishery. waheagle.com Read more here 15:51
Big runs of Columbia River chinook, coho highlight 2014 salmon forecasts
OLYMPIA – Salmon fishing in the ocean and the Columbia River this summer could be great thanks to an abundant run of hatchery coho and a potentially historic return of chinook, according to state fishery managers. Read more here wa.gov 22:38
Hijinks on the high seas – Crab boats allegedly work extra pots
PACIFIC OCEAN — Looking out over the rolling swells of the Columbia Bar on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 9, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officer Dan Chadwick strained to find an orange and blue buoy that bobbed at the bottom of a trough of water. “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack,” Chadwick sighed. That buoy was just one of more than 400 such “needles” that Chadwick and his fellow Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officers needed to find and count before the tide went out around mid-day. Read more@chinookobserver 14:38
Talks will lead to wild steelhead gene bank
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has formed a 20-member steelhead management work group to develop regional plans for steelhead in the North Fork Lewis, East Fork Lewis and Washougal rivers plus Salmon Creek. Federal fishery officials, along with Washington’s 2008 Statewide Steelhead Management Plan, are calling for designation of a network of watersheds where wild steelhead populations are “largely protected from the effects of hatchery programs.’’ more@thecolumbian
Nominations sought for Columbia River seine advisory board
Nominations will be accepted through Aug. 22 for a five-person advisory board to help the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife develop a commercial seine fishery on the lower Columbia River. @thecolumbian
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife – Public meeting on salmon forecast kicks off season-setting process
Kicking off the annual salmon season-setting process, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will present initial forecasts – compiled by state and tribal biologists – of 2013 salmon returns. Read more here
