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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.
My point? Sorry, it’s not just the Dolly/Bull that eat the outmigrants.
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:
We have an opportunity to not only to preserve the wild char of the Skagit
drainage, but all indicators demonstrate that should we would manage for
it, this Dolly/Bull has the potential to become the world class fishery,
just as the Pit River in British Columbia.
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.
www.flyfishsteelhead.com
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