Crabbers planning to stage protest at commission meeting

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, November 26, 2003

OK, crabbers, here’s your chance to participate in – or forever quit complaining about – recreational crab management in Puget Sound. The East Jefferson Chapter of the Puget Sound Anglers has organized what promises to be a big protest on Dec. 6 in Port Townsend and at Fort Worden State Park. The protest coincides with the December meeting of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission at Fort Worden.

First a little background, courtesy of Puget Sound Anglers spokesman JD Wade.

“We have a growing problem with recreational crab seasons in Puget Sound,” Wade said. “Each year there are over 8 million pounds of Dungeness crab harvested from Sound waters, and sportsmen are allowed less than 16 percent of that. Another 11 million pounds is taken off the coast, of which sportsmen catch only about 1 percent. That latter is acceptable, since we are not equipped to fish where the coastal commercials do.

“Five years ago, the Puget Sound crab seasons lasted nine months. This year, the shrinking seasons amounted to just days in many areas. Marine Area 8-2, around Everett, for example, was only 56 days. Today there are 148,000 recreational crab anglers, probably double what it was five years ago, when current crab allocations were set. Participation is rising yearly; anglers need larger percentages of the annual catch.

“The harvest is divided thus: The first half goes to the tribes, per federal mandate. The remaining half, over 4 million pounds, is divided between sportsmen and non-tribal commercials. The split was designed five years ago to be 60 percent commercial, 40 percent recreational, but 148,000 recreational crabbers catch their quota pretty quickly.

“The state Fish and Wildlife Commission is notorious for protecting commercial interests in almost every instance – salmon, halibut, shrimp, and especially crab. There are only 242 non-tribal commercial crab fishermen, taking 2.4 million pounds of crab, leaving 148,000 sportsmen with only 1.6 million. We’re asking for half, which seems fair, but the commission will not listen. They meet again Dec. 6 at Port Townsend’s Fort Worden meeting and convention center.”

Wade said the East Jefferson Chapter is attempting to gather 50,000 petition signatures by mid-January, and already has 10,000 in the can. When the target is reached, the signatures will be presented to the governor. For more information on obtaining a petition, call Gary Hulsey at 360-379-3922, or e-mail garyhulsey@aol.com, or write: East Jefferson Chapter, Puget Sound Anglers, P.O. Box 157, Port Townsend, Wash., 98368.

The Dec. 6 protest gathering involves an organized drive through Port Townsend, an on-the-water boat parade, and then a “Crab Convoy” to the Fort Warden facility, bearing the slogan “We Crab, We Fish, We Vote.”

Hulsey, chapter president, has all the times and other details, or, “We invite all sport crabbers to join us. Bring a boat if you can, or just show up by 9 or 10 a.m. Dec. 6 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Port Townsend, and help us save our sport,” he said.

Steelhead: One of Western Washington’s best early steelhead rivers, the Cowlitz, has been hosting fresh winter-runs well before the informal Thanksgiving weekend starting date. Tacoma Power and Light employees last week “recycled” 178 winter steelhead by trucking them to the I-5 boat access, according to state Fish and Wildlife Department biologist Joe Hymer in Vancouver. River flows early this week were at 10,000 cubic feet per second, and visibility was about three feet.

Other early rivers, over on the Olympic Peninsula, are also off to a good, early start. Bob Gooding at Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks (360-374-6330) said fresh winter fish have been showing for about three weeks now, and that rain last week brought them in from the saltwater in good, catchable numbers.

“The guys are actually doing pretty decent,” Gooding said. “We’re seeing fish, folks are off to a good start and, hopefully, that’s a harbinger of good things to come this season.”

Gooding said the bulk of the early run so far is mostly hatchery fish of 5 to 7 pounds, and are being caught primarily on the Bogachiel and lower Calawah.

Local waters: Marysville resident and guide Tom Nelson (tom@fishskagit.com) said a smattering of winter steelhead are starting to show in the Skykomish. “Could this be the year when the hatchery fish actually do return?” he asked rhetorically.

Meanwhile, he added, Dec. 1 marks the end of salmon retention on many streams, so if late coho or chums are in the works, get it done this weekend. He said the Skagit has cleared a little, but has been hit so hard by floods already this winter that it probably won’t be entirely fishable for a long time. The Rockport area, above the Sauk, is fishable, he said, and is holding both silvers and dogs, and the Sky is also producing the two species.

An employee at Holiday Market Sports in Burlington (360-757-4361) took his daughter on a trip to the Cook Creek section of the lower Quinault with tribal guide Clay Butler last week, and scored five fish in a half-day of fishing. The weather cut the trip short, but he said it looks like good early fishing on the Quinault.

The Market Sports report also listed an unconfirmed 14-pound winter steelhead taken off the beach at Fort Casen a week ago.

Word from the east side: Columbia River steelheading continues to be good, according to Rod Hammons, Brewster resident and fishing guide (509-689-2849; starr@nwi.net), for Methow and Okanogan system fish in the Pateros/Bridgeport area. Slip bobbers with pink or red feather jigs, tipped with prawn or sand shrimp, are the way to go, Hammons said.

He said the fishery between Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams for big triploid rainbow is “about as good as it gets right now.” He said the majority of the fish are in the 5- or 6-pound range, with a few in the teens.

“Power Bait on a slip sinker is the most popular setup for bank fishermen,” Hammons said, “because the fish prefer shallow water this time of year, feeding on small snails.”

The huge run of Columbia River hatchery steelhead will now be available to bank fishermen at Ringold, on the east side of the river above the Tri-Cities. The state has opened the area to retention of hatchery fish from the Highway 395 bridge at Pasco, up to the Old Hanford townsite wooden powerline towers. Large numbers of steelhead are returning to the rearing facilities at Ringold, depressed runs of upriver natives have now cleared the area, and fishing for hatchery stocks can be resumed, said fish manager John Easterbrooks.

Use it or lose it: Mike Harding, past president of the Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club, said the club has worked hard to keep public fishing access on the Pilchuck River at the OK Mill Road in Machias, but that anglers must demonstrate that they want – and use – the site. It’s called the Seahorn Access, Harding said, and has a parking area right at the bridge. The state will post signs to help anglers find their way around when the Pilchuck opens to steelheading on Dec. 1. Harding also warns anglers to stay on the trail, and not trespass on private property.