OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Public comment is being accepted through March 24 on two proposed changes of fishing regulations, including a plan for a five-year moratorium on fishing in the Elwha River and its tributaries.
The rules are expected to be finalized by April 15, said Dave Reynolds, Olympic National Park spokesman. They will come into effect May 1.
The fishing moratorium is designed to protect fish during the removal of the two Elwha River dams, which is to begin in September.
Public comment is solicited from recreational anglers and other interested members of the public.
Lake Mills was closed to fishing last November in preparation for the removal of the dams.
The middle Elwha River — between the dams — and the upper river and its tributaries in the park will close to recreational, commercial and subsistence fishing Nov. 1.
Partial exclusion
Lake Sutherland, which is outside the park’s boundaries, is partially excluded from the moratorium. The lake will close to fishing after Oct. 31 and, beginning next year, will reopen from then on from the last Saturday in April through October.
High lakes in the Elwha basin within the park will not be included in the moratorium, the park said. They will remain open to recreational fishing each year from the last Saturday in April to Oct. 31.
These proposed changes apply only to nontribal, recreational fisheries within the park, which is requesting comments or additional information that may not have been considered in developing the proposals.
The park, Lower Elwha Klallam tribe and the state Department of Fish & Wildlife will finalize the plan after considering public comment, Reynolds said.
The moratorium may be lifted in 2017, depending on the numbers of returning salmon.
The $26.9 million tear-down of the 108-foot Elwha dam and 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam is scheduled to take three years.
It’s part of the federal government’s $351.4 million Elwha River Restoration Project, the goal of which is to restore a salmon run that dwindled from 400,000 fish before the dams were built to 3,000.
A proposal submitted for public comment in November originally included Sutherland in the fishing moratorium because of its connection to the watershed via Indian Creek and its potential as a sockeye salmon breeding ground.
Hundreds voiced their opposition to Sutherland’s inclusion to commissioners and state fishery managers through letters, e-mails and oral comments made during a public meeting in Port Angeles in December.
On Feb. 4, the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, which sets policy for the state Department of Fish & Wildlife, voted to partially exclude the lake from the moratorium.
Regulation clarified
The second change available for public comment is a clarification of a regulation for the Queets River and Salmon River, where all wild chinook must be released during the fishing season from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30.
The proposed change will note that two adipose clipped, hatchery chinook salmon in the Queets and Salmon Rivers can be retained daily during the season.
The fishing regulations, which take effect May 1, are available at the Olympic National Park website at www.nps.gov/olym, the Olympic National Park Visitor Center at 3002 Mount Angeles Road in Port Angeles, local sporting goods stores and in many districts throughout the park.
Written comments can be mailed to Superintendent, Olympic National Park, 600 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles, WA 98362.
