Steelhead Country

[Terry Thomas]

Saw an interesting post this morning from the Wild Steelhead Coalition. They have posted a video titled "Steelhead Country." Perhaps someone can post a link to it. Washington has major issues just as we do.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Preview of "Steelhead Country"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4khbFsVLj9U



Looks like Washington's "Rivers of a Lost Coast".....good deal.


*In the past 50 years or more I think we beat up our Steelhead/salmon rivers from Mexico north to Alaska.


Sport fishing did not kill this fishing.......logging, AG pollution, development and dams did them in.

.

[JayDubP]

Preview of "Steelhead Country"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4khbFsVLj9U



Looks like Washington's "Rivers of a Lost Coast".....good deal.


*In the past 50 years or more I think we beat up our Steelhead/salmon rivers from Mexico north to Alaska.


Sport fishing did not kill this fishing.......logging, AG pollution, development and dams did them in.

.

Add Commercial Offshore fishing to your list... there are free-running, remote rivers in British Columbia in areas that have never been logged or mined and that do not have native netting.... and they still have a drastic drop-off in the number of Salmon and especially the number of Steelhead.

And now BC is seeing the long term negative impact fish farms are having on the environment & especially on the floor of the sea. First Nations people have rejected every fish farm application in the past 2 years in BC-- but the Provincial Government still allowed the fish farms to open or continue to operate.

[DAVID95670]

Washington has major issues just as we do.

We are fooked in WA.

The fish Nazis are killing our rivers . The imbeciles that want to stop hatchery fish beliving only wild fish should be here .

Just look at Cowlitz escapement reports 4000 ytd summers almost 700 a week ... it works . Now look at the same s rivers they are so fooked up


2500 return to Washougal....Kalama 800!!!! Wtf ...yeah stopping hatchery fish has done wonders to kill a beautiful river


As good hearted as McMillian is he and his band of ass hats are fucking it all up

[Rick J]

Gotta disagree with you big time on this one David - the hatchery programs have a lot to do with the decline of fish in the OP - if you don't care about wild fish I find that a pretty sad statement. There is more to this then just fulfilling a need to hook any steelhead!! TU and others are not about stopping hatcheries - in fact I expect the Cowlitz will remain open but I am all for trying to bring back wild fish populations for future generations. You cant expect immediate success on these places where they are trying to stop hatcheries after many years of man screwing things up!!!

[Walter]

What kind of Commercial Fishing? The worst in Canada is the gillnetting for trash chum salmon, as occurs in front of Bella Coola,. Many Dean River Summer Steelhead perish for this community welfare. I wouldnt dare bring this up there either, discussion on the subject is not welcome.

As for Hatchery fish, statistically significant scientific data has demonstrated that the current model of hatchery fish production naturally selects for fish that are best adapted to the hatchery rearing process, not to survival and propagation in the wild. They are in fact pernicious to the survival of wild fish and the health of their genepool.

And remember, as a Commercial Salmon Troller I am dependent of Hatchery Fish for my livelihood. I wish to see hatcheries evolve into best matching the fish they produce to the diverse gene profile of the fish from the specific watershed they are planting for.

Also, net pen reared hatchery fish in bays and estuaries provide sport and ocean fish to catch with minimal straying up into the spaqning grounds, as they were never imprinted by water in those areas. Fish often return to within "six fishing holes" of where they were born. The program in Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz has demonstrated this lack of straying to some degree. The pen fish return to the harbor with no creek to ascend.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We need to clean up our sewage treatment systems. stop old hatchery techniques, re-look at commercially raised salmon, ride hard on AG pollution, keep an eye on logging and get rid of more dams.