New preserves would close Possession Bar
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Fishing off the popular west side of Possession Bar may be off-limits in the near future.
State Fish and Wildlife and the Northwest Straits Commission are looking at creating five marine or conservation preserves in Hood Canal and Puget Sound.
One of particular interest to sport anglers is located at Scatchet Head off the south side of Whidbey Island. The boundary would include a stretch of fishing grounds from the Scatchet Head green buoy and would encompass a rocky complex area of ledges as well as boulder piles that runs diagonally heading south across the bar.
"I have fished for salmon and other species at Possession Bar for a longtime, and there used to be a lot of bottomfish such as rockfish and lingcod," said Mary Lou Mills, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "Now, there are hardly any fish in some particular areas."
Mills said non-tribal commercial and recreational fisheries would be affected, but crabbing may still be allowed.
"The salmon fishery at Possession Bar does affect groundfish populations, and close to 50 percent of the by-catch is rockfish," Mills said.
Puget Sound recreational and commercial fisheries once landed more than 27-million pounds of groundfish in a single year. However, due to declining stocks catches have been the lowest in 50 years.
Bottomfish are targeted during 100,000 to 200,000 boat-based angling trips each year, and they are taken incidentally during one- to two-million boat-based angling trips taken for salmon each year.
The Northwest Straits Commission is a citizen committee whose goal is to show measurable improvements in the recovery of depressed bottomfish by establishing marine protective areas. In 1996, the state Fish and Wildlife Commission developed a policy, "to manage Puget Sound groundfish, especially Pacific cod, in a conservative manner in order to minimize the risk of overharvest, and to ensure the long-term health of the resource."
Currently, there are marine preserves at Titlow Beach and Sund Rocks in Hood Canal, the Edmonds underwater park, and five locations in the San Juan Islands.
"Since we implemented the one at Edmonds 10 years ago, we found remarkable changes in the fish life, and saw a good rebound of rockfish and lingcod," Mills said.
Some in the sportfishing industry are opposed to the proposals.
"Some of these policy makers want to turn back the clock and make Puget Sound fish populations like it was 30 years ago, but you just can't do that," said Kelly Morrison, owner of Silver Horde Lures and Fishing Supplies Inc. in Lynnwood. "You can be proactive to do fish enhancement for the long term by addressing things such as water quality control."
"Another unfortunate thing is the preserves are set up to rebuild fish, but some user groups like the tribes would be allowed to fish there by striking deals with the government," Morrison said.
"At the San Juan preserves the tribes still gather clams on beaches, so I just don't think it's fair that some get to harvest while others have to sit on the sidelines and watch," Morrison said.
Others agree with closing bottomfishing, but not salmon fishing.
"Why use a band aid to fix it," said Keith Robbins, skipper of A Spot Tail Guide in Seattle. "If I had a choice, I would shutdown everything south of Port Townsend for bottomfish. However, they need to realize that salmon anglers aren't abusing bottomfish and incidental catch is minimal."
State Fish and Wildlife is also looking to set up preserves at Orchard Rock, Octopus Hole and Waketickeh Creek in Hood Canal, and Colvos Passage in Central Sound.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Colvos Passage used to draw thousands of sport anglers in pursuit of Pacific cod, but with a decline in the population this type of fishery has become extinct.
State Fish and Wildlife will take public comment from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.: Today, at West Park Community Center, 76 Russell Road, in Bremerton; Jan. 22, at the Squalicum Harbor Boathouse, 2600 Harbor Loop Road, in Bellingham; Jan. 24, state Fish and Wildlife office, 16018 Mill Creek Blvd., in Mill Creek; and Jan. 29, Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E., in Olympia.
On Feb. 20, Mills will speak at the Island County Marine Resources Committee public meeting, 4 p.m., at the Trinity Lutheran Church, 18341 State Route 525, in Freeland on Whidbey Island.
Fishing spots
Southern Puget Sound (Area 13) — Open for catch-and-release only, using one single barbless hook.
Everett area smelt — Very good jigging at the marina. Last Sunday at Stuarts Dock 10 anglers caught 189 smelt.
Cornet Bay smelt — Fair jigging.
Elliott Bay and Puget Sound squid — Jigging is fair at night in the bay along Piers 66, 69 and 86. The Ballard A dock, Dash Point pier and the Point Defiance Park pier in Tacoma are decent spots.
Coastal rivers — "Steelhead fishing is OK, although not grand," said Bob Gooding, owner of Olympic Sporting Goods in Forks.
"The hatchery run is about done, and we're starting to see more bigger wild fish."
Try the Calawah, Soleduck, Bogachiel, Hoh, Queets, Quinalt, Humptulips, Wynoochee and Willapa.
Snohomish river system — "When the rivers dropped we had some pretty good fishing around the hatchery areas," said Curt Kraemer, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist. "There are a few more wild fish being released."
"It has been a decent year for hatchery returns, not exceptional, but on par with what we saw in the 1980s."
Try the Skykomish at Reiter Ponds and the Cracker Bar, and from Sultan to Lewis Street. Other options include Pilchuck, Snohomish and Snoqualmie.
Skagit River — "A few hatchery fish being caught each day at Youngs Bar, and from Sauk to the Cascade River," said Dean Almvig at Skagit Anglers in Mount Vernon.
Also, decent for Dolly Varden trout.
Stillaguamish River — Slow to fair for steelhead at Fortson Hole.
Green River — "It looks like about half the normal water flow, and I talked to some people and they hadn't heard much going on for steelhead," said Tom Krop, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist.
Wild steelhead release begins Feb. 1.
Elochoman River — Fair to good for steelhead. Good fishing conditions.
Lewis River — Fair for steelhead.
Cowlitz River — Fair to good for steelhead, but expect large crowds at Blue Creek and below barrier dam.
Last week, more than 1,300 coho and 285 steelhead were released in the Tilton River at Gust Backstrom Park in Morton. More than 1,800 coho were released in the Cispus River above Yellowjacket Creek.
Kalama River — Fair for steelhead.
West Whidbey Island — Slow for steelhead at Bush Point, Fort Casey and Lagoon Point.
Cowlitz River smelt — Yesterday, dip-netters averaged zero to 30 smelt per dip at Gearhart Park near Longview, and one smelt for every two dips near Kelso. 10-pound daily limits were possible at Gearhart Park during the high tide. Open Wednesdays and weekends, 6 a.m.-10 p.m.
Columbia River — Fair boat angling for steelhead in Bonneville Pool, and The Dalles and John Day Pools. Slow to fair for steelhead at Ringold.
Trout fishing — Locally, Pass Lake is a good fly-fishing spot for trout, as well as Lone Lake on Whidbey Island.
Southwest waters planted last week with trout averaging a ½ pound apiece are: Maryhill Pond, 500 trout; Rowland Lake near Lyle, 3,300; and Spearfish Lake near Dallesport, 1,100.
Lakes planted with trout averaging 7 to 11 pounds are: Horseshoe near Woodland, 185 trout; Sacajewea, 181; Ice House near the Bridge of the Gods, 31; Kidney near North Bonneville, 47; Little Ash near Stevenson, 31; Northwestern near Underwood, 60; and Tunnel just east of Drano Lake, 31.
Mark Yuasa can be reached at 206-464-8780, email at myuasa@seattletimes.com or fax at 206-464-3255.