Sturgeon, Salmon, Steelhead Chronicles

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

Tournement fishing in many cases is good for the fish and the sport of fishing. Bass fisherman have done very well with the competitive events that have made Bass fishing one of the most popular sports in the world. Walleye fisherman also enjoy the tournement deal. Even Fly fishing tournements are becoming popular. The Great Lakes salmon fishing is almost totally a derby type of deal. Other species that lend themselves to tournement fishing include, Redfish, Marlin, Sailfish, Shark and many others. One thing that most of these tournements have in common is that they are catch and release only. The Great Lakes Salmon derbies arent catch and release but they are 100% hatchery fish that are planted for the anglers to catch. While those in the fishing industry find derbies and tournements provide an excellent means of promoting products and getting more fisherman to participate in the sport they arent always good for the fish. Take our pacific northwest sturgeon for example. Sturgeon fishing in Oregon and Washington is some of the best fishing for one of the biggest fish in the world. Over the last decade sturgeon derbies have become increasingly popular. Several large events each year with literally dozens of smaller or club events take place each year. Humans are competitive creatures, many can not resist a contest. Sturgeon fishing derbies have a big problem - they are all catch and kill. With the ever increasing pressure on these valuable fish from both sport and commercial anglers leading to reduced seasons and harvest derbies do not send the right message. Sturgeon derbies in the current catch and kill format only promote excessive harvest at a time when we need to be thinking about promoting catch and release and reducing catch and kill fisheries. The folks that promote these events will say these are fisherman that would be catching these fish anyway - not true in many cases these are boats filled with salesman taking clients out to enjoy the derby and these clients would have never sturgeon fished or killed a sturgeon if not for these events. We are in the process of setting the catch quotas and seasons for upcoming years with fishery managers knowing already that reductions in harvest will be needed to ensure stable fisheries I for one think they would think about banning these derbies unless they were in catch and release format. I think it would be very easy to do and its time to address this issue, especially since its already out of hand. These sturgeon are not hatchery raised fish they are wild very slow growing fish and need to be managed very carefully. Fisherman in the Pacific Northwest are behind the rest of the nation in the catch and release mentality with most wanting to beat everything they catch on the head and take it home. Banning catch and kill derbies on these wild fish would be a big step on helping the in the learning curve that most of the rest of the country has already figured out.

Link: http://www.nwfish.com

The columbia river has some of the best fishing in the world for salmon, sturgeon, walleye and steelhead. The Columbia River once had salmon runs exceeding by far 10 million fish a year. This river in addition to the many salmon and steelhead runs is home to the worlds largest white sturgeon population. Today is different than the days of the early settlers of the pacific northwest. Today after roughly two centuries of mans influence on this once mighty river, the fish that inhabit it are in trouble and have been for over 50 years. Combine the effects of dozens of dams, agricultural water use, mining, timber harvest, commercial fisheries and an ever increasing human population the fish are having serious problems. The Federal government on one hand has the Endagered Species Act that requires that we protect these fish, many runs are already listed and have been for a long time. The Feds on the other hand are in charge of the dams that hold back the necessary water for the fish to migrate for power distribution and to irrigate barren ground for large farming operations. The Feds also have to ensure the commercial fisheries stay vibrant. The fish during the attempt to balance all of this are left to suffer. Sport fishing while still great many years often falls victim to low fish numbers because of the actions of the very government that is supposed to be taking care of the fish. Imagine what the fishing would be like if the fish were placed at the top of the priority list instead of at the bottom. Finally it appears that the Feds are starting to come around, announcing several major Dam removals and other related projects to restore historic fish habitat on a few rivers in Oregon. Lets hope for the Columbia and its tributaries they figure out that those fish need water too. Give salmon the habitat and water conditions they need and they will thrive, take it away and they die.