A Vision of Abundance for Washington Coast and Olympic Peninsula Wild Steelhead

Photo courtesy of Copi Vojta

The Wild Steelhead Coalition’s summary of the coast’s winter steelhead season and our recommendations for building a durable recovery of wild steelhead in these iconic watersheds.

An Opportunity to Change Course

The winter steelhead season on Washington’s coastal and Olympic Peninsula rivers began in late November with WDFW’s announcement that grim pre-season run forecasts would require emergency sport angling restrictions to protect returning wild steelhead in order to allow more of the fish to successfully reach their spawning habitat.

After a series of public meetings to outline various management options, the Department implemented a package of conservation rules that shortened the season by a few weeks, eliminated the use of bait and the retention of rainbow trout, required the use of single-point barbless hooks, and - most controversially - banned fishing from floating devices coastwide. These rules went into effect on December 14th and were intended to strike a compromise between providing angling opportunities for the duration of a season while simultaneously limiting the number of wild steelhead caught and handled by recreational anglers.

Similar conservation actions followed with the February 1st closure of the Queets River within Olympic National Park due to years of missed escapement goals and poor pre-season run projections. Then, in early March, WDFW announced that the Clearwater, Quinault, Humptulips and Chehalis river systems, as well as the tributaries of Willapa Bay, would all close early to further protect wild steelhead due to lower than predicted numbers of returning fish. By the time the shortened season on the coast was winding down at the end of the month, only the Hoh River and Quillayute System (the Bogachiel, Sol Duc, Calawah and Dickey) were still available to recreational anglers.

Some co-manager fisheries also saw changes to their seasons. The Quinault Indian Nation ended commercial netting in the Chehalis System and Humptulips River on January 15 and closed the netting and sport fishing seasons on the lower Quinault River at the end of January. The netting and sport fishing seasons on the tribal waters of the lower Queets and Salmon Rivers continued through the end of March, with the sport fishery operating under a reduced bag limit of one steelhead per angler per day. The Hoh Tribe committed to closely monitoring their gill net fishery throughout the season to ensure they didn’t exceed their agreed harvest share of 251 wild steelhead. The Quileute Tribe reduced their netting by 18 days to help meet conservation goals.

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As expected for a challenging winter season defined by emergency regulations, mid-season closures, and low numbers of fish, angler traffic and the numbers of wild steelhead intercepted by anglers and gill nets was diminished this year. Still, a survey of social media and our friends and colleagues confirm that a handful of beautiful fish were caught and a good number of anglers were able to spend enjoyable days fishing on the coastal streams that remained open.

This winter’s emergency rules meant that members of the public were able to fish and guides were able to work. Neither would have been possible if the coast had been closed completely at the start of the season. Coastal communities depend on the economic activity brought by these winter anglers. We hope everyone who fished on the coast this winter appreciates the opportunities provided and embraces the restraint required to make future seasons possible.

Mostly, we hope the rules worked as intended and spring surveys reveal that more wild steelhead were allowed to successfully spawn than would have otherwise. This is the measure of success that matters the most for the long-term health of coastal rivers.

Most anglers easily adjusted their fishing to comply with the emergency regulations. Many were happy to do so, but we were disappointed by the anglers and guides we witnessed, and those we heard about, selfishly breaking the rules. Compliance with regulations, especially when the goal is to protect fragile stocks of wild fish, is the absolute bare minimum we should expect of all anglers. If the broader angling community isn’t able to meet these basic standards, then we should all expect, and support, complete closures as the only reasonable management option to guarantee the low impacts needed to give the wild fish room to rebuild their numbers.

Arguments over the regulations among Washington steelhead anglers reached a fever pitch this season, but we can’t allow disagreements over angling methods and short-term commercial opportunities to obscure the important fact facing us today: Wild Steelhead numbers are dangerously low in Washington’s coastal watersheds. Most of these iconic rivers habitually miss escapement goals, placing the Olympic Peninsula and Washington coast’s Distinct Population Segments on the brink of requiring protection under the Endangered Species Act.

One only has to look at the rivers of Puget Sound to be reminded of what happens when we run wild steelhead fisheries into the ground. We lose them. We can’t allow this to happen on Washington’s coast and Olympic Peninsula. These incredible, public rivers offer a chance to rebuild and we should act before the opportunity slips away.

To do so, we must shift our management principles from one that demands recreational and commercial fishing opportunity at all costs to one guided by caution, restraint, and a focus on restoration and rebuilding.

Emergency rules and closures were necessities this season, and we applaud the Department for taking the important conservation steps. Serious intervention was required, and, as anyone who has been paying attention would acknowledge, long overdue for particularly struggling watersheds. In fact, a broad understanding exists among the region’s stakeholders that the coast’s wild steelhead need our help, even if we disagree about the precise details of the path forward. We must build on this momentum.

This season's actions represent a recognition that these wild steelhead runs are truly imperiled, and an important start to transforming the management paradigm on Washington’s coast. Preventing the collapse of our wild steelhead populations is the immediate priority, but long-term, sustainable wild steelhead fisheries will require comprehensive, conservation-focused policy to restore their abundance. As steelhead anglers and advocates for these rivers, we should accept nothing less.

The era of Maximum Sustained Yield and constant overexploitation must finally be abandoned. Management needs to be driven by sustaining fish diversity and functioning ecosystems, not by the obsolete notion of ‘surplus’ yield.

Guiding Principles

With an eye towards a better future for Washington coastal wild steelhead and salmon populations, the Wild Steelhead Coalition has assembled a series of practical policy suggestions for fishery co-managers we believe could help build new consensus and support among stakeholders for a path towards durable recovery of these fisheries.

We are listing them here to provide Wild Steelhead Coalition members, and other interested anglers, conservationists and policy-makers, with a straightforward set of parameters to help guide the advocacy and collaboration required to support sustainable wild steelhead fisheries.

At the highest level, all of our recommendations are guided by an overarching framework built on the following principles:

• Allowing more wild steelhead and salmon to spawn and rear successfully.

• Commitment to shared sacrifice and collaboration between regulators, anglers, commercial users, and tribal fisheries.

• Consequential near-term reduction of impacts to returning wild steelhead are necessary now to support long-term, sustainable viability for sport and tribal fisheries.

• Expanded commitments to habitat restoration and protection of the resource, including resident rainbow trout.

• These are public waters and resources and must be safeguarded for the broader public good rather than prioritizing commercial opportunity.

Photo courtesy of Copi Vojta

Wild Steelhead Coalition Recommendations

• Updated Escapement Goals

• Conservative Forecasts to Establish Seasons

• An Endorsement for Coastal Waters

• Sanctuary Water

• Hatchery Reform

• Reinstate the Hoh Sonar Program and Improve Monitoring

• Expand and Support WDFW Law Enforcement

• Increased Transparency From Fisheries Managers

• Notes: The Queets and the Bogachiel Rivers

Updated Escapement Goals

Escapement goals for coastal watersheds have not been adjusted in years. Currently, the coast’s low targets are based on politics as much as ecology. They must be re-evaluated to include current fisheries science, impacts of a changing climate, and an understanding of wild steelhead life histories. New targets should be established prioritizing a goal of abundance and full utilization of available spawning and rearing habitat.

Wild steelhead runs on the coast have been declining since the Department began keeping track. Clearly, we need more fish, especially the struggling early returning portion of the run, to spawn successfully each season.

Rebuilding and protecting the early run timing component of the coast’s populations is particularly important in order to provide a diversity of spawning time options which recognizes weather and water conditions that vary year to year. The life history strategies of these populations have been radically reshaped by previous fisheries management. These alterations and losses now restrict the ability of the coast’s wild steelhead to adapt to altered watersheds and a changing climate, and likely limit the potential for full recovery.

Healthy wild steelhead populations also need healthy salmon populations. Salmon escapement numbers should immediately be re-evaluated and raised, too.

We would support an immediate emergency bump to both wild steelhead and wild salmon escapement goals - effectively creating a short-term protective buffer to get more fish spawning each season - followed by an evaluation and establishment of new spawning targets for coastal watersheds.

Conservative Forecasts to Establish Seasons

Coastal systems miss their modest escapement numbers far too frequently. Pre-season run forecasting is notoriously difficult, but managers often have a range of estimates provided by stock assessment models each year. These estimates should be applied conservatively, and where stocks are declining, err on the side of caution for the purposes of determining allowable impacts from recreational and commercial fishing seasons. This is especially important on Washington’s coast because we have no ability to accurately measure real-time run numbers throughout the season.

When watersheds are not projected to reach escapement numbers in pre-season forecasts, no one should be fishing.

Those years, we simply must give watersheds time to rebuild instead of continuing to overexploit them as they fail. We would like to be pleasantly surprised by run counts that moderately exceed expectations instead of proceeding with a fishing season only to find out, which happens far too often, that runs are actually smaller than forecast and will end up missing escapement targets.

An Endorsement for Coastal Waters

As wild steelhead fishing opportunities have disappeared elsewhere, and industry hype has driven increased levels of participation, fishing activity on Washington’s incredible coastal rivers has become more popular than ever. Anglers travel from across the region, country, and the world, to chase wild steelhead on these waters.

Washington should take advantage of this enthusiasm and provide recreational anglers a direct way to contribute to fishery restoration by establishing and requiring an additional endorsement or fee to fish these rivers above and beyond the annual fishing license.

Washington anglers would pay one rate and visiting anglers from out-of-state would pay a much higher rate. This could be done as a one-time season permit, or, even better, a daily fee so that anglers fishing the most would be able to contribute the most. The endorsement should apply to guide licenses as well, especially the relatively underpriced permits for nonresidents arriving each winter to profit from Washington’s rivers.

The funding raised should be split between state and tribal co-managers and used for habitat restoration projects, expanded law enforcement, conversion to selective fisheries, and critical fishery monitoring. These financial resources could be an important investment in restoration programs and an opportunity to share the economic benefits brought to local coastal communities by healthy fisheries.

Sanctuary Water

The coastwide ban on fish from floating devices was a surprise to many of us. Honestly, we had expected widespread river closures to be announced this winter instead. WSC supported the rule change because we believe it represents a simple yet effective means to reduce angling impacts on wild steelhead populations while still allowing fishing opportunities for anglers and guides. Wading anglers simply can’t reach every spot on a river, or as many of them each day, as anglers fishing from a boat. The rule is an effective way to ensure sanctuary space is set aside for holding and resting wild steelhead once they have entered fresh water.

We also know that many anglers and guides have been caught breaking the rule and that a vocal minority contingent of our community is working to have it overturned. At this point, we don’t know if the ban on fishing from floating devices will continue on coastal waters next season or not. If it is proven to have been successful in spring spawning surveys then we would support it again as a workable balance between conservation goals and angling opportunity on the coast. We know many anglers and businesses approve of the rule change and appreciate the compromise it represents.

If political and commercial guiding agendas force modifications or cancel the rule, then it must be replaced by regulations that provide at least as much in-river sanctuary for wild fish, if not more. It is worth noting that river closures are the easiest way to ensure there are no angling impacts on wild fish. For better or worse, they are an egalitarian option since they affect all users the same. If compromise isn’t possible, or supported by data, then unfortunately closures become the only practical option.

What absolutely cannot be allowed to happen is a widespread return to the free-for-all of past seasons. That practice and mentality must end until wild fish populations have had a chance to recover, and only then could a gradual loosening of restrictions be considered in the future.

If the Department is forced, or opts, to abandon the ban on fishing from a floating device, severe limitations on the number of anglers, guides, and/or boats allowed on rivers each day emerges as a potential replacement policy. This could entail seasons shortened to a few days each week, or a single month of the winter, or limited access to shorter sections of watersheds.

Deer, Elk and Bear hunters happily operate under lottery systems to provide carefully controlled access to public lands and game animals for hunters and outfitters. No one thinks twice about these reasonable limitations. There are separate regulations, and seasons, in place for more effective hunting methods as well: rifle vs bow hunting seasons, for example. It is easy to imagine a similar system being implemented on Washington’s coastal watersheds to reduce traffic and impacts on fragile wild steelhead stocks.

Hatchery Reform

Hatcheries on Washington’s coastal watersheds must be legitimately evaluated for their impacts on wild fish recovery and brought into compliance with the goals and requirements of Washington’s Statewide Steelhead Management Plan. It is well-documented that many of these legacy programs, especially where they are stocking domesticated, out-of-basin fish, suppress the recovery of wild steelhead populations.

We are encouraged by the Sol Duc River’s relative population stability (it has even shown some small improvements in recent years while other rivers on the coast have only declined during the same time period). There are many factors at play, but the Sol Duc’s status as a Wild Steelhead Gene Bank is undoubtedly contributing positively towards recovery. The basin’s wild fish, perfectly adapted to thrive in their natal waters, are being prioritized and given space to rebuild their numbers without additional competition or genetic dilution from domesticated fish. The policy represents an opportunity to work with ecological function instead of against it.

These wise protections should be expanded wherever possible across coastal watersheds. In these places, the resources used to operate hatcheries would be better invested in habitat restoration instead.

Reinstate the Hoh Sonar Program and Increase Monitoring More Widely

The sonar on the Hoh ran for two seasons and was providing crucial real-time monitoring of fish returns. The program was discontinued by budget cuts and the equipment is now sitting unused in a shed on the Olympic Peninsula. It isn’t an expensive program, but it provides valuable insights and monitoring for this struggling watershed and important seasonal perspectives for all West End fishery trends. It should be reinstated immediately and the Department should commit to ongoing funding. Ideally, a similar monitoring program would be implemented on the Queets system as well.

Expanding creel surveys throughout the season, and across coastal watersheds, would likewise provide valuable insights into the amount of angler traffic and impact occurring on fragile fish stocks. Documentation, beyond catch cards, to include catch-and-release is needed. Increasing the presence of these programs on coastal watersheds should be prioritized going forward.

Expand and Support Law Enforcement

Poaching and flagrant violation of regulations remain a persistent and frustrating problem on coastal fisheries. Game Wardens work incredibly hard, but are spread too thin over such a vast territory, many miles of rivers and coastline, and extensive lists of responsibilities.

Funding should be permanently committed to hire at least two additional Officers for the West End. This is an important step to honor the state’s treaty obligations and protect shared public resources from abuse and overexploitation by the worst members in our communities.

The Wild Steelhead Coalition has been proud to support the WDFW Law Enforcement program by donating much-needed equipment, and intends to do so again in the coming biennium, but the Department needs to make a commitment to permanently, and fully, staffing these valuable frontline law enforcement positions.

Increased Transparency From Fisheries Managers

After the fallout following the December 2020 public meetings with the Department and Commission this winter, WDFW fishery managers committed to increasing their outreach and communication efforts to the coast’s angling stakeholders. We want to applaud and encourage this effort. We are firm believers that more information, delivered as far in advance as is possible, is always the best option for community feedback and building policy support among stakeholders.

To that end, we would ask for more real time data on angler traffic, creel surveys, and tribal harvest be made public. This would go a long way towards providing important common knowledge of the state of our shared, public fisheries and work to dispel rumors and unfounded accusations of impacts among differing user groups. An expansion of the creel survey program would help gather this data.

We aren’t naive: This information can be controversial, but it is far better to have all participants in the sport and tribal fisheries using common data to weigh our impacts without trading in hearsay or incomplete information. Especially when wild fish populations are fragile, a universal understanding of their status is invaluable for public stakeholders to support conservation-focused policy decisions and fishery management.

The Queets and the Bogachiel Rivers

Every basin along Washington’s coast faces unique and specific challenges. The popular Hoh River is struggling under incredible levels of angling pressure and netting despite frequently missing escapement goals during the past decade. Anglers, tribes and conservationists need to keep working together to prevent an ill-conceived dam from being built on the upper Chehalis River. But the Bogachiel and Queets Rivers face particular challenges worth discussing.

The Bogachiel River

The rivers of the Quillayute System are often aggregated together in public discussions by managers and anglers. The system is depicted as a coastal stronghold because it has met its combined escapement goals in recent seasons. This aggregation is a disservice to management policy and public perception. Whenever possible, the streams composing the Quillayute System should be discussed as separate rivers. Steelhead evolved a complex life history to fit the diversity of individual watersheds across their range. Each river system, including its tributaries, supports fish that inherit characteristics uniquely adapted to the habitat from which they were spawned.

Closer examination reveals that the Calawah and Sol Duc are carrying the system’s wild steelhead returns and that the Bogachiel, despite its immense popularity, is one of the worst performing rivers on the entire coast. This is a biological oversight destined for tragedy. The state should consider closing the Bogachiel above its confluence with the Calawah and reevaluating the large number of Chambers Creek hatchery fish planted each year. The money used to fund this destructive program should be split between the state and Quileute Tribe for habitat restoration and/or selective fishery projects instead.

The Queets River

The Queets is a system in dire need of a comprehensive management plan. This incredible river is breaking under the pressure it receives. The watershed spans tribal, federal and state jurisdictions and we are calling on all three of these managers to immediately convene new discussions to develop a collaborative path forward.

At the very least, any and all hatchery fish in the system should be fin-clipped to provide better selective harvest options; conflicting escapement goals should be resolved (new research is pointing towards the need to raise these targets); and a full accounting for gill net and sport fishing harvest impacts, including catch-and-release, must be documented annually so co-managers can accurately gauge how many fish are returning and how many are being taken.

To be clear: The Wild Steelhead Coalition unequivocally recognizes and supports tribal treaty fishing rights, but remains concerned about collective, unsustainable levels of impacts on wild steelhead for entire systems when they are failing to make escapement goals. We want to see all of the watershed’s fisheries managers working together to restore wild fish numbers in the Queets before it is too late.

We were pleased to see the Olympic National Park take a leadership position and close the Queets River within its boundaries this year. We thank them for this difficult, but necessary, decision. Hopefully this represents a new level of awareness that, despite the exceptional habitat that remains within the watershed, this system is deeply hurting and needs immediate intervention and restoration before we all lose it completely.

Photo courtesy of Copi Vojta

A Shared Future for Wild Fish

The wild fish and rivers of Washington’s coast are a public treasure, but they are suffering under generations of overexploitation, land use practices that lead to habitat degradation, and a lack of fortitude that can only be seen as mismanagement. Many of these rivers should have been closed multiple times in the last decade whenever they were not meeting escapement goals, but the status quo always erred on the side of angling and commercial (both guiding and netting) opportunity. A ban on wild steelhead harvest by anglers was put in place only a few years ago.

We are paying for these past mistakes now. Conservation of these public resources must be prioritized going forward because the challenges they face are only increasing. Glaciers in their headwaters are melting, summer temperatures are increasing, and the ocean has grown less hospitable to fish survival. When wild fish return to their natal waters after years spent feeding in the North Pacific, they face gill nets in the lower rivers and mobs of efficient anglers upstream. It is time for all of us to truly learn the lessons of Puget Sound’s collapse and begin working together to repair the coast’s fisheries before it is too late. We know we can provide these wild, resilient fish the protections and habitat they need to thrive.

Washington’s coastal wild steelhead are not listed under the Endangered Species Act, but some of the watersheds would undoubtedly qualify for protections if they were petitioned. If Washington state and tribal co-managers cannot find ways to begin rebuilding the coast’s wild fish numbers together, then Federal intervention through the Endangered Species Act doesn’t just become likely, it becomes the only viable option.

If we all want to be fishing on the coast in the years to come, it will require acting now to ensure a better path going forward. This will require shared sacrifice, investment and respect, but this path offers a vision of abundance built on fundamental commitments to wild fish, their home waters, and future generations of anglers and tribal fisheries. We must rise to the challenge, not only for ourselves, but because restoring the Washington coast’s wild fish runs represents one of the greatest gifts we can bequeath to all future generations.