Shortened Salmon Season

[ycflyfisher]

Thanks for the insightful post, YC. I'm glad we have two very senior and qualified fish biologists (You and Fishtopher) still posting here giving scientific rationales for what we're all observing. Wish you both would both post more often here, but I do understand your "reluctance" for obvious reasons. I really like this part:
1-Churning out millions of fake hatchery fish didn't stop the collapse from occuring.
2-Reliance on hatcheries to restore abundance has been an epic level failure. As Andy mentioned, we wouldn't be having this discussion it it was working.
3- Blame placing in lieu of expending the effort to understand what the problems/challenges really are, won't lead to any viable solutions that produce favorable results.
4- The Feather has the capacity to produce far more streamborn Chinooks than most think it does.

Especially point #3. Since that seems to be what happens here the most.

Thanks for saying thanks. I'm actually just an angler, not a fisheries or ecology professional.

I've been napalmed on this forum so many times, I've lost count and I don't chime in very often due to that, but due to the fact there's only 24hrs in a day.

I do agree with your sentiment though. By my count since I've been here, I've seen about 9??? fisheries pros, one genetics pro and one Alluvial geomorphologist chased from this forum. Pretty sad to say the least.

[WLREDBAND]

I guessed wrong on your profession. You are one well informed dude though, so props to ya! I guess that means we only have one fisheries/ecology professional here. That's somewhat sad. Hopefully, Fishtopher doesn't leave like all the others.

Thanks for saying thanks. I'm actually just an angler, not a fisheries or ecology professional.

I've been napalmed on this forum so many times, I've lost count and I don't chime in very often due to that, but due to the fact there's only 24hrs in a day.

I do agree with your sentiment though. By my count since I've been here, I've seen about 9??? fisheries pros, one genetics pro and one Alluvial geomorphologist chased from this forum. Pretty sad to say the least.

[Rossflyguy]

WLREDBAND, I’ll read those articles you shared later BUT sounds like you’re against hatchery raised fish just based off the information you choose to read. Have you read any statistics about the fall of fisheries with the coming of dams? There’s no paper that could absolutely prove salmon numbers would climb if you took hatcheries away and kept the current dams in place. You’d have to cut all salmon fishing off just to sustain a “wild” population with the little spawning habitat and poor water conditions. We all want wild fish but if you like water coming out of you faucet on a regular basis then dams aren’t coming down. I realized that awhile back and I prefer hatcheries to have better practices than getting rid of them. That’s the reality.

[WLREDBAND]

I think the reality is, you have me confused with someone else. I'm not against hatchery fish in the appropriate circumstances. Just for the record.

WLREDBAND, I’ll read those articles you shared later BUT sounds like you’re against hatchery raised fish just based off the information you choose to read. Have you read any statistics about the fall of fisheries with the coming of dams? There’s no paper that could absolutely prove salmon numbers would climb if you took hatcheries away and kept the current dams in place. You’d have to cut all salmon fishing off just to sustain a “wild” population with the little spawning habitat and poor water conditions. We all want wild fish but if you like water coming out of you faucet on a regular basis then dams aren’t coming down. I realized that awhile back and I prefer hatcheries to have better practices than getting rid of them. That’s the reality.

[JasonB]

I guessed wrong on your profession. You are one well informed dude though, so props to ya! I guess that means we only have one fisheries/ecology professional here. That's somewhat sad. Hopefully, Fishtopher doesn't leave like all the others.

In my personal opinion, the knowledge base of a handful of folks here is what keeps this forum worth sifting through all the BS. We all have plenty of well intentioned opinions, but it’s really valuable to be able to learn from those who actually know a bit about what they are talking about. I would include several “non professional” members here in that category too, fwiw, but I really appreciate those who have real data to support the their opinions. I once heard Tim Rajeff share a funny quote that I think rings pretty true time and again: “give any angler 15 minutes with no action, and they will automatically begin to develop a theory”. Sometimes those theories have merit, sometimes they don’t.

[Rossflyguy]

I think the reality is, you have me confused with someone else. I'm not against hatchery fish in the appropriate circumstances. Just for the record.

Well sir, with dams blocking hundreds of miles of spawning habitat on rivers hatcheries are the appropriate circumstance until those fish can reach their historical spawning grounds. Just like most lakes I’m sure you fish 99% probably are stocked or were from hatchery genetics. You seem like you’re against hatcheries. Calling salmon raised for several weeks in a hatchery “fake” when they spend 2-6 yrs on they’re own in the ocean to later run hundreds of miles of river seems far from fake to me. But we all have an opinion and I stand with you for wild salmon cause that’s the end goal.

[ycflyfisher]

I guess that means we only have one fisheries/ecology professional here.

By my count, there's 4 more that chime in very infrequently.