A Precarious Moment for Fisheries Management
At a time when U.S. fisheries face mounting ecological pressures—from climate change to habitat degradation—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is being forced to contend with severe budget reductions. These cuts threaten the foundation of science-based fisheries management in the United States. With staff reductions, project cancellations, and curtailed research capacity, NOAA's ability to monitor fish populations, enforce sustainable harvest regulations, and restore degraded ecosystems is being compromised just when it is most urgently needed.
These impacts will ripple through coastal communities, Indigenous fisheries, commercial and recreational sectors, and the fragile ecosystems on which they all depend. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of wild steelhead.
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Washington's "Gray Ghost" Battles Extinction
Read Lynda Mapes's in-depth investigative article for the Seattle Times exploring the complexity surrounding Washington’s state fish.
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Protecting Our Wild Trout: A Call for Policy Change
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is revising its policy for wild trout harvest. It presents an opportunity to make meaningful changes that prioritize the long-term health of wild native trout populations. As stewards of these invaluable resources, we must ensure this policy reflects modern science, addresses emerging threats, and protects the interconnected life histories of resident and anadromous trout.
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Ocean Ecosystem Indicators Show Less Than Ideal Conditions for Juvenile Steelhead
The 2024 NOAA Fisheries report highlights concerning ocean conditions off the Pacific coast, which are expected to negatively impact juvenile steelhead and salmon survival.
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Proposed 2024-25 Rules for Coastal Steelhead: A Conservation Perspective
Proposed 2024-25 rules for coastal steelhead: A Conservation Perspective
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WDFW Coastal Steelhead Town Hall Meeting Re-Cap
At the recent WDFW Coastal Steelhead Town Hall meeting, a key focus was the significant increase in wild steelhead runs, particularly in the Hoh and Quillayute rivers. Last season’s redd counts on the Hoh River were notably high, contributing to the estimated escapement used to calculate the total run size and harvest numbers. If current preliminary estimates hold, this year’s run size for the Hoh River would mark a record-setting increase, the highest in several decades.
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WSC Letter and Comments on Wild Trout Policy Development
On behalf of the Board of Directors and membership of the Wild Steelhead Coalition, please consider the following comments and recommendations regarding the current management and conservation strategies for wild trout in our state. Based on recent evaluations and scientific evidence, we believe the following changes are necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability and health of wild trout populations.
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Resident wild trout are an investment in the future
We can no longer afford to remain ignorant. Resident wild trout are an investment in the future of steelhead and should not be sacrificed for recreational “trout” fishing opportunities.
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LOST RIVER
Save Our Wild Salmon released Lost River, a limited-edition print with an essay by renowned author and conservationist David James Duncan, in 2005. Photographer Frederic Ohringer created the image, and Patagonia underwrote the project.
The words are as poignant today as they were 19 years ago.
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Throwback Thursday: REI Presents: A Steelhead Quest
Terry Myers, a steelhead advocate, and long-time angler, spent 2015 trying to catch a wild steelhead on a different river each month of the year. After successfully hooking a wild steelhead in all but two of the months, she set her sights on finding the last two fish to complete her quest.
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Billy Frank Jr.’s father used to tell him, “When the tide is out, the table is set.”
The 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision is a celebration of Native leadership.
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Resident Native Trout Harvest Management Policy town hall | Feb 12, 2024
At this virtual public town hall, WDFW staff shared information about the scope, development, and timeline of a resident native trout harvest management policy.
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What's The Skinny On The Adipose Fin?
Every steelheader recognizes that small fin on the back of the fish just forward of the tail, the adipose fin. Adipose fins are only found in a few groups of fish, notably the Salmonidae, or salmon and trout family (including whitefishes and grayling), but also several other groups of fish that many of you have probably never heard of unless you are a fish geek.
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Conversation with WSC Board Member Rich Simms - Gig Harbor Fly Cast Podcast
Blake Merwin from the Gig Harbor Fly Shop recently sat down with WSC Co-Founder and Board member Rich Simms for an episode of the Gig Harbor Fly Cast.
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Learning to Swim: The Early Life of Steelhead and its Implications for Management - Part Two
In Part 1, we left off with an outstanding question that has not been evaluated for steelhead: Do their offspring stay close to home like Atlantic Salmon and Brown Trout, or do they disperse broadly? In review, if the fry are highly mobile, then high density and intense competition would likely lead them to seek out unoccupied habitats rather than reduce survival. If they stay close to home, then high densities will lead to increased mortality, and in that case, we must know something about the distribution of spawning adults to make inferences about habitat capacity.
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Learning to Swim: The Early Life of Steelhead and its Implications for Management Part One
Steelhead possess a personality that any high school punk rocker kid would strive for. Make a rule, and they will break it because, let’s face it, they do whatever they want. Any effort to categorize them will only capture the average at best because they are all are just doing their own thing.
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The Boats Are Back In Town
On November 30, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the 2023-2024 coastal steelhead season. Included are special rules allowing the expansion of fishing from a floating device on two sections of the Hoh River during certain days of the week. This conservation measure, touted to help minimize impacts on wild steelhead, is a surprising reversal from the last couple of years that recognized the need to limit this highly effective fishing method at a time of chronically low steelhead returns.
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Update On Our Petition To Protect Resident Rainbow Trout
On October 27, the WDFW commission considered our petition, and we won big for Wild Steelhead when they rejected it. That’s right, they rejected our petition, and we can chalk it up squarely in the win column for wild rainbow trout and steelhead.
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2008 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Statewide Steelhead Management Plan
In 2004, the Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife challenged the agency to develop a scientific foundation for a Statewide Steelhead Management Plan
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The Unintended Consequences of Fire Retardant on Wild Steelhead
With wildfire seasons getting longer and hotter, the U.S. Forest Service says dropping fire retardant is a crucial tool, but the red chemical is lethal to aquatic life.
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