Future looking a bit brighter for crabbers
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, December 3, 2003
The big crab protest hasn’t even come off yet and already there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon for beleaguered Everett-area recreational crabbers.
Lake Samish resident J.D. Wade, a member of the state’s Crab Advisory Group, said Wednesday that newly set quotas and seasons for 2004 are relatively positive for areas 8-1 and 8-2, and that the outlook for the following year might be even brighter. It won’t be year-around crabbing as it was 10 years ago, but neither will local crabbers get docked for a substantial over-catch in their meager 56-day season this year.
Wade said that with the exception of Marine Area 7 (the San Juan Islands) Puget Sound recreational crabbing opens next year on June 1.
“Granted, that’s two weeks later than last year in the Everett area,” Wade said, “but look at it this way. Because your part of the Sound was the only one open, it brought huge numbers of recreationists from other areas between May 15 and June 1, and pretty much wiped you out. By opening all areas except the San Juans at the same time, we hope to spread the pressure a little more evenly.”
Wade said the intense fishery in the Everett area this year resulted in a recreational over-catch of 148,000 pounds – a figure that could have been subtracted from the 2004 quota.
“We negotiated the same quota as last season – 360,000 pounds – in your area,” Wade said, “and raised the possibility at least of a small bump upward the following year.”
He said the San Juans will open in stages as crab shells harden, but the dates will be set and published far enough in advance so that recreationists will be able to plan their activities.
Wade said the advisory group continues to negotiate for a larger recreational share of the total Puget Sound Dungeness take.
And significant pressure toward that end will be brought on the state Fish and Wildlife Commission when it meets this weekend at Fort Worden, outside Port Townsend. The East Jefferson Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers has organized what should prove to be a large protest, boat-in and vehicle “crab convoy” to Fort Worden State Park on Saturday. Generally, crabbers interested in participating should be at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Port Townsend by about 9 a.m., but for more information, contact club president Gary Hulsey at 360-379-3922, or e-mail him at garyhulsey@aol.com.
Changing of the guard: Longtime – and occasionally controversial – Department of Fish and Wildlife fish biologist Curt Kraemer has moved upstairs at the agency’s Region 4 Mill Creek office, to the relief of some local fishing activists and the dismay of others. Kraemer left his position as district biologist in charge of anadromous fisheries on the Snohomish and Stillaguamish systems (steelhead, salmon, cutthroat and Dolly Varden, among others), and took on the post of Region 4 freshwater fisheries program manager.
In the new position, he will supervise the freshwater biology staff of the entire region, from Pierce county north to Canada and from steelhead and salmon to trout, bass and other lake species. He will have increased responsibility for the entire freshwater fishery in this part of the state. He’ll work under only regional fish biologist Chuck Phillips (salt and freshwater chief), but he will probably not be as public a figure as he was in his previous position.
Despite impeccable credentials as one of the most knowledgeable anadromous fish biologists on the West Coast, Kraemer has been criticized by some – particularly the past six or eight years – for a management style and public demeanor they saw as aloof, confrontational and abrasive. Because of his control over high-profile salmon and steelhead runs on the Snohomish, Skykomish and Snoqualmie rivers – the best and most popular in the Seattle metro area – Kraemer became a well-known “spokesman” for anadromous fisheries here, and the biologist the media most often went to first with a question.
That proved to be a mixed blessing.
“The reality of the job is that no matter what decision you make, it won’t be popular with some segment of the public,” Kraemer said. “I’ll still be around. I’ll be working closely with Chad (Jackson, his replacement), and hoping I can pass along what I’ve learned, both the positive and the mistakes. You always like to think that the next generation will learn from the past and keep moving us upward.”
Phillips said Kraemer’s promotion was a natural progression of staff in Region 4, and was the result of three factors: First, Olympia moved control and management of hatcheries out of the central office and back to the regions, meaning an increased workload; second, two longtime biologists in the Skagit/Whatcom area retired at about the same time; and third, state budget cuts cost Phillips several positions.
So, Kraemer wasn’t moved to what probably will be a less public position because of pressure brought by disenchanted anglers?
“Absolutely not,” Phillips said. “This has been in the works for a long time.”
River update: Fishing guide and Arlington resident Sam Ingram (360-435-9311) fished the Skykomish Tuesday – the upper river, above the Sultan – and landed two steelhead. One was a nice, 6-pound winter-run, he said, and the other was probably a late summer-run of about the same size. The winter fish hit a “cop car” Tadpolly, and the summer fish took eggs, Ingram said. He warned the upper river was the only portion really fishable early this week, but that the river seemed to be coming up again late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, peripatetic guide and Marysville resident Tom Nelson (tom@fishskagit.com) was over on the Bogachiel, catching fish and taking names. He and his big buddy, ex-pro football lineman Kevin Gogan, took one look at the two feet of visibility on the Bogy on Wednesday morning and decided it wasn’t worth the effort of launching the boat. So instead, they walked in to the bank fishing spot above the Bogachiel Hatchery, just outside Forks, and proceeded to knock ‘em dead.
“Six at the bank out of 10 hooked, by noon,” Nelson said, via cell phone, “and we broke off a 20-plus pound chinook.”
Largest of the steelhead was a 12-pound, three-salt hen, he said. Eggs and sand shrimp were both effective.
Nelson said the Cowlitz was still in bad shape over the weekend. High water flow and only about a foot of visibility made for tough pickings.
Bits and pieces: Squid jigging is picking up at a couple of spots along the Everett waterfront and at Kayak Point. Ditto smelt jigging at Cornet Bay, with better prospects for a little later in the winter there and at La Conner and the Oak Harbor marina.
Big triploid rainbows are on the bite above Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia, according to Rod Hammons, guide and Brewster resident (509-689-2849), and should remain so until late January.
A number of hatchery rainbow lakes in Eastern Washington opened for winter fishing on Dec. 1 in Okanogan County, and the better ones should include Green and Lower Green near Omak, and Rat Lake near Brewster. Little Twin, near Winthrop, is popular but biologist Heather Bartlett said low water levels this summer make the lake marginal at best. Palmer Lake, near Loomis, is open year-around and is excellent now for yellow perch. Roses Lake, near Lake Chelan, is another top winter water (don’t attempt ice fishing there) from the bank, and biologist Art Viola said it will be stocked shortly with 15,000 3-pound or larger rainbows for the winter season.
