|
Dear Rich, As much as I probably should just keep quiet, I just can't help it. I pose a question: Should we not protect the wild Char of the Skagit River System? A rose by any other name: We used to call them Dolly Varden. Then it was Bull trout. This wild char seems to have more twists and turns to his life history than a Tom Clancey novel. Now they appear to be two distinct char families, but nothing a casual observer could tell by hand. The Skagit appears to have a small Dolly Varden stock, but it is comprised primarily of the Bull Trout. Do we know the population and distribution of each? Escapement goals or system caring capacity? A scrap fish right?: Old legends die hard. The Poor Dolly/Bull is accused of predator status that makes other salmonids famous: 1) He eats eggs. So? And the top bait for steelhead, found so deadly for wild steelhead on Vancouver Island, that it's use is outlawed? And Searun Cutthroat don't? The fact of the matter is; all freshwater fishes, including salmonids, will feed upon salmon and steelhead eggs, at various times of their existence, if the eggs are available, it is part of life. 2) He eats juvenile fish: Yup. When I was full time Fisheries Biologist, conducting juvenile out-migration studies using scoop traps, we certainly found this to be the case,......... along with every other salmonid in the smolt to adult stage. The most voracious predator on chum and pink fry in our scoop trap studies was......the wild coho smolt. Are we going to start whacking off every fish that eat fry? Another case in point: Some years ago, As a young flyfishing guide, I noticed that quite often we would see large slashing rises on our steelhead pools, in the spring. This corresponded with the chum & pink fry out-migration. More out of curiosity than anything, I toyed with a fry imitation, and finally developed what our guides now call, "chum Fry'. You Greaseline it in the surface, so your takes are very visual, totally cool......but I digress. Yup,
we really caught the Dolly/Bull, along with Searun Cutthroat, steelhead,
coho & chinook smolt and even an occasional adult steelhead. Downstream
Kelts just hammer it. We kill the Dolly/ Bull because there is enough: Enough what? This maximum sustained yield concept has only gotten us in trouble with every other over harvested fish, bird, and animal population this state has to offer. The WSC is all about looking for new solutions to ancient fishery practices. We don't know how many fish Dolly/Bulls there are but there is enough. Perhaps if we are going to error, let's error on the part of the wild char. Seems like I heard this somewhere. "Don't pee down my neck and tell me it's raining". The fact of the matter is; the real reason the WDFW has Dolly/Bulls managed under a two fish limit, over 20", on the Skagit system, is because our hatchery steelhead program is so pathetic, the Dolly/Bull is simply laid upon the alter as the "consolation Prize" so the steelhead fisherman has something to take home and hopefully will buy his fishing license next year. You know it, and I know it. An
opportunity: Let me give you the best reason to protect the lowly Dolly/Bull. Because nature put him here. I don't believe we have the right to take him, away. My proposal: Make the Skagit system a Selective Fishery, single barbless, and one fish kill. The philosophy is the 20" minimum is so the Dolly would have a least one year to spawn. I would propose a slot limit of one fish between 12" > 15". This would discourage local anglers (other than poachers) from killing any fish, (much like the attitude of the Yakima River fishery), because a single fish of this size is not worth killing. The added benefit of a selective fishery of course would greatly benefit all the fish that swim the Skagit River, including the wild native steelhead. Thank you for your consideration. Dennis
Dickson, Biologist, Flyfishing guide. |
|
|
|
Dennis Dickson Fly Fishing Steelhead Guide |