True-Cod Decline Alarming

If you think daily catch limits on fish sometimes are too liberal, too chintzy or simply do not reflect reality, read on.

Check Page 4 of the Department of Fisheries sports-fishing pamphlet for the daily bag limit on true cod in inner Puget Sound.

You'll see it's 10, and that's exactly 10 more true cod than department biologists and technicians have checked among fishermen this winter in Agate Pass, the narrow waterway between Bainbridge Island and the Kitsap Peninsula that for years had been a mecca for true-cod fishermen.

In its glory days in the early 1980s, recreational fishermen caught as many as 32,800 true cod a year in the pass. Last year, the catch was estimated at 150.

A report, under review by the department for release within a month or two, will confirm what true-cod fanciers know already, that true-cod populations in the inner Sound have undergone an alarming crash.

Alarming, but not necessarily catastrophic, said the report's author, Wayne Palsson, a marine-fish biologist who prepared the report after a two-year study.

In the inexact business of marine-fish management, it often is impossible to say with with absolute certainty what has caused a population crash.

However, Palsson's report is expected to wag a finger at at least three suspects: environmental changes; overfishing by both sports and commercial fishermen, and the possibilty of excessive predation by an exploding population of harbor seals and sea lions.

It is the first - a changing environment - that has given Palsson some optimism that the true-cod population will rebound within inner Puget Sound, probably within the decade.

What is known about true cod (also called Pacific cod) is that Puget Sound is the southernmost part of the true cod's range.

True cod grow faster, but die quicker here, but in the cold, arctic waters of the Bering Sea and Bristol Bay, they live much longer and ultimately become much larger than true cod in Puget Sound.

``The hypothesis is that even a slight change in water temperatures can have an effect on true-cod populations,'' Palsson said.

At least one meteorologist has suggested that Puget Sound water temperatures are determined by 20-year cycles of warming or cooling and a cooling cycle will develop over this decade.

``So, if the theory holds true, we should see an effect in three or four years, but certainly not instantly,'' Palsson said.

And if true cod rebound in the Sound, so might pollack, which also have undergone a population crash, Palsson said.

In the 1970s, pollack were the mainstay of a charter-boat fishery in the Tacoma area. Though fun to catch, salmon anglers regarded pollack as pests because it was almost impossible to keep them off the hook. A pollack catch now is a rarity in the sound.

So, in what at first glance may seem like a feckless gesture, the department has cut the inner-sound pollack daily bag limit from 10 to five, effective April 1.

While the limit cut may have little effect now, it could speed the recovery, if and when that begins to happen, Palsson said.

HUNTING MEETINGS SET

-- The Wildlife Department has scheduled seven meetings this month to present its recommendations for fall big-game hunting seasons and to ask for public comment.

The Western Washington meetings, all 7-9:30 p.m., will be March 22 at the Wildlife Department's Mill Creek office, 16018 Mill Creek Blvd., March 23 at Lower Columbia Community College, Longview; March 26 in the Executive Inn at Fife and March 27 in the lecture hall of the South Puget Sound Community College, 2011 Mottman Rd. S.W., Olympia.

Other meetings will be March 19 at Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane; March 20, Columbia Basin Community College, Pasco, and March 21 at Yakima Community College.

The Wildlife Commission will set season lengths for the fall big-game hunts in May and season lengths and bag limits for waterfowl in August.

APRIL RAZOR-CLAM TIDES

-- Shellfish biologist Dan Ayres has prepared the following tide table you may wish to clip and save for next month's coastal razor-clam season.

During the April 1-29 season, digging will be allowed midnight to noon only and only on odd-numbered days. Licenses ($3 for persons 16 to 65, free for seniors and kids) are required, the daily limit is 15 and persons must keep all clams they dig, regardless of size or condition.

Though the table lists two afternoon tides, tides on those days will be low enough before noon for effective digging.

The table:

April 1, minus .1 foot at 12:14 p.m.

April 7, plus 1.1 at 5:46 a.m.

April 9, plus .1 at 7:09 a.m.

April 11, minus .3 at 8:21 a.m.

April 13, minus .2 at 9:26 a.m.

April 15, plus .3 at 10:39 a.m.

April 17, plus .8 at 12:26 p.m.

April 23, .0 at 5:54 a.m.

April 25, minus 1.5 at 7:32 a.m.

April 29, minus 1.0 at 10:54 a.m.

Outdoor calendar

-- March 21-25, Tacoma Dome Boat Show. April 1-29, Coastal razor-clam season open odd-numbered days, midnight to noon. April 16, Lingcod season opens in Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca; 30-inch maximum size limit in effect on chinook through June 15 in San Juan Islands and along Strait of Juan de Fuca; Halibut season tentatively set to open in Strait and Puget Sound; Crab pots banned through July 15; Yakima River upstream from Roza Dam opens to catch-and-release trout fishing year around. April 22, General lowland-lake fishing opener statewide. June 1, Most streams open to fishing; June 9-10, Free Family Fishing weekend.

The fishing and wildlife notebook is published every Sunday. If you have outdoor-related items, such as club or calendar announcements, send them to Fishing and Wildlife Notebook, c/o Brad O'Connor, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle 98111.