Tell ODFW: Stop the Harvest of Wild Steelhead on Oregon’s South Coast Until Accurate Population Counts are Established

Photo courtesy of Alex Rachowicz at Rogue Valley Anglers

Public Comments are due August 1st: Take Action for Oregon Wild Steelhead Today!

Immediately before the Independence Day holiday weekend, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) released the Draft of their new Rogue-South Coast Multi-Species Conservation and Management Plan and asked for public comment. This extensive plan governs fisheries in key South Oregon watersheds, including the Rogue River and its tributaries, and was developed during a year-long planning and stakeholder process.

In recent years, local anglers have submitted multiple petitions asking the Department to protect the South Coast’s wild steelhead from harvest when it became clear the ODFW does not know how many wild steelhead are returning each winter, or how many are being harvested, or how many are being caught and released, or how many are successfully spawning in Southern Oregon’s watersheds.

Unfortunately, this new management plan fails to adequately establish the appropriate monitoring protocols required to truly take stock of wild steelhead populations and angling impacts on Oregon’s beautiful South Coast rivers.

Faced with these vast gaps in data collection, and grim anecdotal reports of low fish numbers from local anglers during recent seasons, the only responsible management decision is to stop killing wild steelhead until comprehensive population numbers can be established. As it stands now, no one can confidently confirm how many wild steelhead are being taken each season or how big of an impact on the total run size this harvest represents.

This is not sustainable fisheries management. Anglers must speak up during the public comment period.

It doesn’t matter if an angler swings flies, plunks from the bank, pulls plugs, or side-drifts: We should all insist that the Department halt wild steelhead harvest while fishery managers invest the necessary years, resources, and effort to finally establish accurate population counts.

Send your letter to the ODFW today to tell fishery managers you support improved population monitoring and catch-and-release angling for wild steelhead in Southern Oregon until we know for certain that wild fish populations are healthy and stable enough to sustain harvest impacts.