A Dead Fish is a Dead Fish, Right?

[wildmanyeah]

Lots to unpack and fact check in this one


A Dead Fish is a Dead Fish, Right?

https://www.salmonandsteelheadjourn...do_D5XUNZxmtKkuFyqiceB4iW71hAqw_SZRPHxv9ayfAE

Getttt fireeed up!!

"The saltwater non-commercial effort in Washington and Oregon is the highest economic value fishery per angler and per fish we have. And it is being raped by the least economically valuable fisheries. Half of the harvest in Southeast Alaska is on Washington and Oregon coastal fish and Columbia River fish; and up there they are about half the size they will be when they reach Oregon and Washington waters. It is criminal to prioritize those fisheries."

"And yet the largest salmon processor in the world Trident Seafoods has processing plants all over Southeast Alaska to intercept, fillet and freeze those immature salmon as well as stuff them into savory salmon Fancy Feast classic patè cat food or something. And why are they up there doing that? Simple. Because up there, under the cover of two single-minded senators and a single single-minded Congressman, and the ditzyness of our own representatives, they can avoid the pain that we’re having to go through. These guys aren’t stupid. Just the opposite."

 

[agentaqua]

Interesting read - thanks, WMY!

 

[wildmanyeah]

I just read this and LOL hard

"Can you imagine how hard it must be to manage a particular run knowing that a drought, a cloud of cormorants, seals, sea lions, walleye, bass, pike minnows, a change in pesticide practices, an offshore blob, a mutating Atlantic salmon virus, a brand new high seas catch/process boat coming out of Singapore that just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the dissolving shells of copepods, Orcas trying to save their butts, 10,000 oil-leaking Volvos, el Niños, la Niñas, banditos, YIKES! … and the only easy button you have is telling little people they can’t fish and you know that’s not going to do much good and is probably going to hurt a lot of people and almost certainly get your department sued."

 

[agentaqua]

ya - he nailed it, eh? I liked his: "Ultimate Cage Fighting negotiations" description...

 

[wildmanyeah]

man this guy im loving life reading this

"Eighty percent of the harvest of Puget Sound Chinook, which are virtually all listed as threatened, are killed in British Columbia. British Columbia says sorry about that, eh, but you know we’re in the same ‘boot’ because our fish are being intercepted in Southeast Alaska. You know, it’s not all commercial either. I love going to BC to fish and yes, I know on the west side of Vancouver Island, the fish I’m catching, fin clipped, are probably headed for the Columbia or a Washington or Oregon coastal stream. Father, I have sinned. It has been 15 minutes since my last confession. But what can you do? Stay home where I can’t fish or can but where there are no fish to catch?"

 

[agentaqua]

Ya - glad he brought-up Alaska. It is very difficult to get agreement in the PST. 2 countries - 4 states and 1 province. For Canada - it's a little easier in that DFO is the "appropriate" and sole federal authority. The states on the other hand - run all their fisheries independent of not only each other - but independent of what other more "Southern" (read: later) capture fisheries - unless they are constrained to what they have agreed to in the PST. We used to go by "watershed of origin" wrt TACs until Alaska decided that didn't work for them any more a few years back. And almost all of the stocks need to get by Alaska intercept fisheries before they head South to BC and the Southern US states.

Loved his humour and his writing...

 

[searun]

I haven't yet read the new PST, but the old one didn't apply to SOG where a lot of the Puget fish are caught that he alluded to in the article. Another interesting factoid that he picked up upon was that the majority of Chinook caught in the AK fishery are from BC and southern US - I think its something in 20% range that originate in AK based on DNA sampling. So the whole thing is a cluster of sorts.