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Tag archive for: Dick Burge
A future for wild steelhead: Establishing the First Wild Steelhead Management Zone on the Sol Duc River
Recently the WDFW made a hard social and biological decision to move the Snider Creek hatchery to the Bogachiel River, freeing up the Sol Duc River for classification as a Wild Steelhead Management Area (WSMZ). This was the result of many organizations and hundreds of interested steelheaders sending in comments to WDFW related to hatchery impacts. The Wild Steelhead Coalition, along with the Native Fish Society, led this charge, providing two white papers and comments on the science of hatchery impacts and the need for a quality Wild Steelhead Management Zone (WDMZ) on the Washington Coast.
The Importance of Resident Steelhead (Rainbow Trout), Oncorhynchus mykiss, in the Recovery, Productivity, Genetics and Population Viability of Anadromous Steelhead in Washington: The need to fully protect this life history form in anadromous rivers from harvest and incidental mortality with recommendations for WDFW rule changes.
The Wild Steelhead Coalition recommends that all resident steelhead in anadromous rivers be protected from harvest and incidental mortalities. This protection will further the recovery of badly depleted and ESA listed anadromous steelhead stocks in Western Washington.
Wild Steelhead Coalition comments on WDFW Sport Fishing Rules Proposals for 2012-2013
These comments about the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) 2012-13 Sportfishing Rules Change Proposal were submitted to the WDFW on December 30, 2011.
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.
The Snider Creek Hatchery: The Impacts of the Hatchery and Increased Wild Stock Harvest on Early Sol Duc River Winter Steelhead with Recommendations for Recovery
By Dick Burge Rebuilding the wild steelhead run on the Sol Duc River to its maximum capacity means we must develop a plan to recover the early run and all other depleted components of the total run. This is possible only if we eliminate hatchery plantings stocks and concentrate on…
