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Methow Valley News February 10, 2000 Endangered Species Coverage Local anglers propose fish kill alternative By Lee Hicks Methow Valley flyfishers want the state to delay a proposed research project that would involve killing nearly 2,000 steelhead over three years. In a letter to state Fish and Wildlife director Jeff Koenings, Ben Dennis, president of the Methow Valley Fly Fishers, suggested, as a "responsible alternative," to delay the research in favor of a monitored catch and release for one year. Dennis wrote Koenings Feb. 1 that the monitoring would allow state officials to assess the "50/50 rule" to determine population of endangered steelhead in the Methow basin. National Marine Fisheries Service wants to ban "overfishing" in streams where more than 50 percent of the fish population is an endangered species. If the monitored catch-and-release season shows the percentage of endangered steelhead-rainbow trout exceeds 50 percent, Dennis said the agency could then "do limited strontium testing to refine the profile." Dennis wrote that killing fish for the study, "would be severely stressing the only trout fishery in the Upper Columbia." F&W has proposed killing and sampling about 650 fish in each of three years to assess strontium levels that are higher in anadromous, or ocean-migrating, species. Steelhead are anadromous species of rainbow trout, but biologists say it’s difficult to determine which migrate to the ocean. State fish officials had at first proposed closing the basin as the result of pressure from NMFS to create "sanctuary streams" for endangered fish. A limited catch-and-release fishery and the strontium testing were later proposed as an alternative to closing the fishery. Opinion | Sports |
Local Interest |