ACTION ALERT: Columbia River fisheries need your voice.
Recreational spring Chinook fisheries were reopened in the Columbia River this year through an agreement between fisheries managers from Oregon and Washington, also known as the Columbia River Compact. While this may be good news for angler access, the gillnet community and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have voiced their support of a return to smaller mesh gillnets on the maintstem of the river as soon as this summer.
This completely undermines the Columbia River Fishery Reform Policy that the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission put into place this past year—and it opens the door to the overfishing of Chinook stocks that are reportedly at their lowest number in 20 years.* If it’s allowed, mainstem gillnetting will come at the cost of not only wild Chinook and threatened steelhead, but sockeye, chum, and coho as well. And that is no good for anglers, or the immense number of regional businesses that rely on healthy fisheries for their livelihood.
If you’re a Washington resident, have a personal or business connection with the Columbia River fisheries, or simply want to voice your support for common sense conservation measures for our wild salmon and steelhead populations, please consider sending an e-mail to Acting WDFW Director Joe Stohr and encourage him to follow the clear management directives of the Columbia River Policy for spring and summer Chinook.
It is critical that the Commission hears from citizens who support the common sense conservation and management provisions of the Columbia River reforms.
Thanks for your help.
AFFTA
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