Fish & Wildlife board adopts gillnet ban

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 7-2 on January 14 to implement the next phase of the state's reform policy on Columbia River salmon management, including updates to provisions for fall chinook salmon and other provisions that will reduce commercial fishing.

The updated policy builds on a joint strategy by Washington and Oregon to restructure recreational and commercial salmon fisheries on the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam.

Adopted by both the Washington and Oregon commissions in 2013, the policy was designed to promote conservation of salmon and steelhead, prioritize recreational salmon fishing in the lower Columbia River, and transition gillnet fisheries into off-channel areas by Dec. 31, 2016. The policy also calls for increasing hatchery releases in these areas, while expanding commercial fishing opportunities through the use of alternative fishing gear.

The policy included a four-year transition period, with full implementation scheduled for January 1, 2017, but also allowed for modifications to the plan.

The commission, a citizen panel appointed by the governor to set policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, voted to implement most of the key provisions of the current policy but modified the allocation of fall chinook salmon between the recreational and commercial fisheries.

The modification increases the recreational fishery's share of fall chinook from 70 to 75 percent for the next two years, before increasing to 80 percent in 2019. Originally the policy called for the allocation to increase to 80 percent in 2017.

The updated policy also would explicitly allow a mainstem commercial gillnet fishery for upriver bright fall chinook upstream from the confluence of the Lewis River in 2017 and 2018, but requires improved fisheries monitoring.

"While we have made a couple changes to the policy for the next two years, we are committed to full implementation, meeting conservation goals and transitioning gillnets into off-channel areas," said Larry Carpenter, vice-chair of the commission.

The commission approved fully implementing the current policy's planned allocation shift for spring chinook, increasing the recreational fishery's share of the stock from 70 to 80 percent beginning this year. The allocation of summer chinook for the recreational fishery also will increase from 70 to 80 percent this year.

In addition, the commission directed staff to move forward with developing and implementing the use of alternative commercial fishing gear by 2019, and aggressively pursue a buyback program for commercial gillnet licenses.

The updated policy is available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/. The commission January 13 and 14 agenda, along with the summary and presentation by WDFW staff to the commission is available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings/2017/01/agenda_jan1317.html.