New rockfish plan

Published 12:01 am Friday, April 29, 2011

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has just released a new management plan designed to protect and restore rockfish populations in Puget Sound, available to the public online here.

The plan builds on WDFW’s efforts to protect rockfish in Puget Sound, where three species — bocaccio, yelloweye and canary rockfish — were listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act in 2010.

All this sound positive enough, except that it sets the stage for establishment of additional marine reserves in Puget Sound, many of which would most likely be off-limits to any kind of recreational fishing. The marine reserve issue has proved to be a highly contentious one in California and in other parts of the country.