IMAGINE A SUMMER without recreational chinook or coho fishing.
A warning shot intended to avoid such a scenario, in the form of a sternly worded letter from the National Marine Fisheries Service, has been fired across the bow of both the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and tribal fishing interests.
The letter concerns potential consequences to Puget Sound salmon fisheries if tribal and state co-managers are unable to come to agreements during the upcoming North of Falcon season-setting meetings.
Puget Sound fisheries, as defined in the document, include the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound and all rivers and tributaries entering either saltwater body.
The letter was sent this week to Jim Unsworth, state Fish and Wildlife director, and Lorraine Loomis, chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
Both sides had trouble finding common ground during last year’s North of Falcon process, leading to a shutdown of Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) for chinook fishing last summer.
Now it appears the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent department of the Marine Fisheries Service, wants to show both sides what’s at stake if no consensus is met.
There are four factors NOAA uses when offering final approval for fisheries: compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, consistency with the Endangered Species Act and the Pacific Salmon Treaty, and the allowance of full exercise of tribal treaty rights.
To boil it down, Puget Sound chinook stocks are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Any chinook fishery requires authorization under Section 7 of the act — where a “consultation” on a federal action can be determined.
The letter states: “In this instance, the federal action upon with NOAA Fisheries has consulted is the funding by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of tribal fisheries management activities.
“Non-Indian fisheries are included within the consultation because, under a North of Falcon agreement, they are interrelated and interdependent with the tribal fisheries.”
If the state and tribes can’t agree on Puget Sound fisheries through North of Falcon, then non-Indian fisheries, i.e. recreational, would lose that “interrelated and interdependent” status with tribal fishers and would not be eligible for a Section 7 consultation.
This means any recreational fishery would have a host of hoops to comply with regarding the Endagered Species Act — so many that it would take more time to determine compliance than conduct the fishery.
“Based upon what NOAA Fisheries knows now, the only potentially timely mechanism for ESA coverage of Puget Sound fisheries, at least non-Indian fisheries, requires agreement under North of Falcon,” the letter said.
Coverage under Section 7 would still be there for tribal fishers due to the federal action of Bureau of Indian Affairs funding.
Separate tribal plans would be “unprecedented,” however, and would demand new biological opinions, management plans and other slow-to-assemble analysis.
The ultimate outcome of a schism likely would be the same for tribal fisheries as it would be for recreational.
“It is likely that the analysis and review of the newly structured proposals would be time consuming, and might not be completed before the proposed fisheries would be over,” the letter said.
Bumpy water off Port Townsend
Jerry Johnson, president of the East Jefferson Chapter of Puget Sound Anglers, had a tough outing off Port Townsend on Wednesday.
“My fishing partner and I fished Mid-Channel Bank in the wind, and came home with a 24-inch blackmouth,” Johnson said.
“[We] released an unclipped blackmouth around 18 inches long, and we came back in after two hours of very bumpy water.”
Johnson also took note of the construction work at the Port of Port Townsend’s Boat Haven ramp.
“Noticed that the two pilings are in place for the new dock at our boat ramp,” Johnson said.
“Hopefully we will be able to find some larger blackmouth as the season progresses.”
Johnson also corrected a small detail on the new ramp from a previous column.
The 6-foot-wide float is being added to the ramp’s south side, not in the middle, and will provide a 36-foot-wide open ramp.
That’s enough room for one boat to launch and another to haul out at the same time.
“That change saved the Port some $100,000 by being able to drive the necessary piles from the shore, rather than from a barge,” Johnson said.
“Another benefit from that change involves the Armstrong Boat Company, part of which has located here in the Port Of Port Townsend Boat Haven, with some 30 family-wage jobs.
“Armstrong will utilize the new 36-foot-wide ramp to launch their new, wide catamaran boats, rather than having to utilize a lift to launch them.”
Rivers on the rise
Nearly vertical lines on the USGS river flow charts and flood watches for the Bogachiel River spell trouble for steelhead anglers this weekend.
Saturday’s forecast currently doesn’t call for rain in Forks, so anglers may find their best bet for a bite Sunday after allowing some time for the high water to recede.
Plunking in the shallowest depths near the banks could be the prime option.
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Outdoors columnist Michael Carman appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
