Bob Hooton addresses the elephant in the room when it comes to Skeena steelhead.
If the angling community wants to continue to enjoy what the Skeena has left to offer it might want to think about softening its collective footprint. Steelhead supply and angling demand have been going in opposite directions for a number of years. That does not a recipe for quality fishing make. If that is no longer important no one needs to do anything different than they have since the quality waters angling regulations came into effect in 1990. Just stand by and watch the word quality be continuously re-defined. If it is important the only option is to develop a system of controlling the number of anglers per unit time and area.
LINK (via Steelhead Voices)
All this talk of limited entry starts to sound a little blooded to me as it increases the cost to gain access to the fishery. Why do we have to have guides? Are guides as important as wild steelhead? Are wild fish a commodity, are they for profit? The guide/outfitter model favors the rich and is dated. DIY is the most fair and democratic way to access, use and advocate for our public lands and waters. Management policies should protect the resource first, the accessibility of that resource for all of the public second and profits of guides/outfitters/lodges last.
that should read “blue blooded”
Salmon Wars in the American West on the British BBC’s “serious” Radio 4 channel just now (Nov. 18th morning), fellas. Here’s a link to the BBC page. You should / might be able to listen to / download it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011lrw