OLYMPIA — Today is the deadline for submission of public comments on a proposed five-year fishing moratorium for the Elwha River and its tributaries.
The state Department of Fish & Wildlife is proposing the moratorium to help protect fish runs during and after removal of the 108-foot Elwha Dam and the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam.
The state Fish and Wildlife Commission will conduct a public hearing on the moratorium proposal at 1:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, in Room 172 on the first floor of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 S.E. Washington St., Olympia.
The panel, which sets policy for the state Department of Fish & Wildlife, is scheduled to make a decision on the proposed fishing moratorium, which would begin next fall, at its Feb. 4-5 meeting in Olympia.
The proposed rule has stirred concerns about the possible closure of Lake Sutherland, west of Port Angeles, with speakers at a packed meeting Dec. 15 in Port Angeles showing support for a fishing moratorium for the river as long as it didn’t include the lake.
Fish & Wildlife Regional Fish Program Manager Ron Warren said at the Port Angeles meeting that the lake was under consideration for closure to help the anadromous sockeye salmon survive, possibly by breeding with kokanee, or landlocked sockeye, in the lake.
Have to adapt
After dam demolition, fish in the two reservoirs will have to adapt to a river ecosystem, and habitat for anadromous fish below the dams will change as sediment blocked behind the dams is washed downstream.
Warren said the moratorium will give those populations a better chance of survival by giving them a boost before the dams come down and by protecting them for a few years after demolition.
The agenda for the Jan. 7 meeting is at www.wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings.html. A link in the agenda goes to the fishing moratorium proposal.
Comments on the proposed fishing moratorium can be submitted to Fish & Wildlife rules coordinator Lori Preuss at lori.preuss@dfw.wa.gov or at 600 N. Capitol Way, Olympia, WA 98501.
