FEATURED ACTION: 
WSC Position on Wild Steelhead Harvest
Throughout the southern half of their range, wild steelhead have experienced tremendous declines during the last century and a half. While many factors have contributed to their decline, overharvest in sport and commercial fisheries has been ubiquitous, and today most populations are depressed below 10% of their historic abundance. During…
Key Issue: Fisheries
Recommended Reading: Six books about wild steelhead management in Pacific Northwest
We recommend the following six books to help you get started in understanding the plight of wild steelhead and salmon in the Pacific Northwest and the complicated nature of their management.
Update on the Historical Columbia River Steelhead/Salmon Abundance Project
Bill McMillan was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Wild Steelhead Coalition (WSC) in early 2010 to continue research and develop an accurate historical baseline of what steelhead/salmon numbers and distribution were in the Columbia Basin prior to Euro-American contact. Funds for the WSC grant were secured from Patagonia’s World Trout Grant program. A previous update regarding this project was featured in the November 2010 issue of The Adipose.
WSC Efforts Secure Important Protection for Early Winter Steelhead Runs on the Olympic Peninsula
During the WDFW Major Regulation Cycle of 2009, the WSC proposed a harvest closure of wild steelhead during the early winter months (December, January and half of February) that allowed fishing to continue by catch and release. That proposal was adopted by the WDFW Commission and became a formal regulation last year. The following is a rewrite of the justification the WSC provided WDFW to justify this new regulation.
Wild Steelhead Research on the Sauk and Skagit Rivers
(This article was featured in the November 2010 issue of WSC’s newsletter, The Adipose.) By Chris Grieve Most of the Wild Steelhead Coalition members are aware that the Sauk and Skagit rivers were closed early the last two years during the winter seasons. Many of you probably didn’t know that…
WDFW 2012-2013 Rule Change Cycle: Tell WDFW to re-evaluate escapement data
The WSC supports river closures for wild steelhead fisheries when the runs are showing a decline and have not made their escapement goals over time. However, we have not found any information that supports the escapement goals and early closures of the Willapa Bay rivers.
For First Time, Alternatives To Gill Nets Being Tested (Columbia Basin Bulletin)
Purse and beach seines are now being deployed in the lower Columbia River in what is the first test of alternative commercial fishing gear on summer chinook salmon. The tests represent a broadening of an effort by the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife to evaluate the…
