HOOK AND FUR By Bob Brown Whether we are seeing the end of steelhead fishing as we once knew it is a question that remains unanswered, but there are changes in the wind that may be disquieting to a large portion of the steelhead fraternity. State fish managers held a public meeting Jan. 21 in Cathlamet to discuss two options for establishing a wild steelhead gene bank in rivers and streams near the mouth of the Columbia River. Both options are designed to support the preservation of wild steelhead populations by prohibiting future release of hatchery-raised steelhead into specific waters of the lower Columbia River Basin. Some anglers believe there is no such thing as a true wild steelhead any more, and what the department specifies as a wild steelhead is simply an unclipped adipose fin hatcheryGÇôraised fish. Be that what it may, one option being considered would eliminate production of winter steelhead on the Grays and Chinook rivers. The other would prohibit production of hatchery steelhead on Mill, Abernathy and Germany creeks. Cindy Le Fleur, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) regional fish manager, said, "This is the last of four gene banks currently planned for Columbia River tributaries below Bonneville Dam. Our advisory group was divided on the two options, so we'd like to get some additional input from the public.GÇ¥ WDFW will accept public comment electronically starting Jan. 25. More information is available on the WDFW website. Le Fleur added both options under consideration meet standards outlined in the state's Statewide Steelhead Management Plan, which calls for WDFW to establish a network of wild stock gene banks across the state where wild stocks are largely protected from the effects of hatchery programs. That plan, adopted by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission in 2008, was based on studies showing hatchery-produced fish can interfere with wild steelhead in ways ranging from interbreeding to competition for food. The first official gene bank was established in 2012 in the Sol Duc River on the Olympic Peninsula. In March 2014, WDFW designated three gene banks in the lower Columbia River drainage on the East Fork Lewis, North Fork Toutle, Green and Wind rivers.
Bob Brown is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be reached at robertb1285@centurylink.net.
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