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Methow Valley News February 3, 2000 Endangered Species Coverage Fish and Wildlife considers fishing regulations by Lee Hicks There may be a fishing season this year in the Methow basin, and studies that could kill about 2,000 fish are also planned for the next three years to gauge the percentage of ocean-migrating steelhead trout. The state Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet Feb. 4 and 5 to consider the proposed 2000 fishing regulations to be published in the state regulations pamphlet in the spring. Unveiled at a local meeting Jan. 11, the proposed upper Columbia River basin catch rules were also discussed by state fish officials in Wenatchee Jan. 26. As proposed, a selective gear catch-and-release season for trout would be allowed from June 1 through Sept. 30 in sections of the Valley’s three main rivers: on the Methow River mainstem from Gold Creek to the Weeman Bridge, the Chewuch River from the mouth in Winthrop to Eightmile Creek and the Twisp River from the mouth in Twisp up to War Creek. A longer season under general "statewide regulations" would be permitted in upper reaches of the three rivers from June 1 through Oct. 31. Selective gear fishing would be allowed from June 1 through Oct. 31 on the upper stretches of the Chewuch and Lost rivers. Statewide regulations would apply upstream of Three Prong Creek above Black Lake and upstream of the South Fork of Wolf Creek. A winter whitefish season would also be allowed on the Chewuch and Methow rivers. As the proposed regulations go to the state commission, Fish and Wildlife officials are also planning a study that would involve killing rainbow-steelhead trout to determine strontium-calcium levels in their brains. Fisheries biologists say higher levels of the substances are found in anadromous, or ocean-going rainbow known as steelhead. National Marine Fisheries Service listed steelhead as endangered in the upper Columbia basin, including the Methow Valley, in August of 1997. Spring-run Chinook were listed by NMFS in the spring of 1999 while U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed bull trout as threatened. Local anglers had advocated a catch-and-release fishery in which they would assist state researchers in studying fish populations. However, the number of fish to be killed has raised concern. State fish officials had said earlier in the season that they might have to close the basin to fishing to comply with NMFS directives. NMFS has said it does not want "overfishing" in streams that have more than 50 percent of endangered fish. State officials say the study is the only way to accurately determine which fish are actually steelhead. Opinion | Sports |
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