AOTY Clarification - Eel River Salmon

SBD;

are you referring to your fishing prowess or what an NCKA potluck will do to your colon at 3AM?

Silent But Deadly 

Pull my finger.   

your fishing prowess or what an NCKA potluck will do to your colon at 3AM?

It depends on the day!

your fishing prowess or what an NCKA potluck will do to your colon at 3AM?

It depends on the day!

As to whether a shirt will be required? 

Eric,

You raised a good question, but you have to remember the "spirit of the  law". What was the intent of the law or rule when it was enacted? My bet is if you were to get caught by F&G or a Deputy, you would likely get a ticket and then you would have your day in court. From experience in Mendocino County, it doesn't take much to for a guy to lose his fishing license for 5 years for a F&G violation. I guess it's just a situation I would avoid, but go with your heart.

I drove 453 miles round trip to the Klamath last week for my salmon.

CHEERS!

Eric,

You raised a good question, but you have to remember the "spirit of the  law". What was the intent of the law or rule when it was enacted? My bet is if you were to get caught by F&G or a Deputy, you would likely get a ticket and then you would have your day in court. From experience in Mendocino County, it doesn't take much to for a guy to lose his fishing license for 5 years for a F&G violation. I guess it's just a situation I would avoid, but go with your heart.

I drove 453 miles round trip to the Klamath last week for my salmon.

CHEERS!

Dan, I think the "spirit of the law" is that the Eel River is a catch and release salmon fishery.  Agree with messing with spawners or not, that's the way it is on the Eel.  I don't know what you're referring to when you say "if you were to get caught..."  get caught doing what?  Salmon fishing is legal on the Eel river - catch and release only.  That's the point.

As for the information that a spawner may dump it's spawn during a fight, I've never witnessed it, only heard of it.  It's something that is rare, and of course it's discouraging to say the least.  There are many issues surrounding Eel River salmon and their plight.  At this point the catch and release fishery may harm some of the remaining stock, but there are much bigger issues that aren't being addressed, and I doubt they will be.  Personally, I feel that they should dredge the Eel from the mouth up past Fortuna and put in a huge hatchery at Yager Creek.  A half million adult returning hatchery fish every Fall would sure be cool.  I don't hold out much hope for the native Eel River salmon due to the fact that most of the spawning habitat is inhabitated, degraded, and very vulnerable to poachers, and much of the Eel's water ends up in Lake Mendo.  That doesn't mean that I will disregard the well-being of a sacred fish that is under my influence.  On the contrary, I take very good care of a fish that I catch and release.  My interaction with that wild Eel River salmon is my personal, legal choice, and it's something that fuels all of my other environmentally conscientious activities, ideas, actions and communications.

I'm still waiting to speak to a local warden about all of this.

I'm still waiting to speak to a local warden about all of this.

Have you tried the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California?  This guy looks like a 7th year prosecutor who might shed some light on it, or let us know who could.

Todd Pickles (CSB 215629)
United States Attorney's Office
501 I St Ste 10-100
Sacramento, CA, 95814    
T - (916) 554-2700
F - (916) 554-2900

I guess that it means that I can fish for salmon in the Noyo River because there is a zero bag limit through Oct 31, and 1 trout or hatchery steelhead after that, until May. That is a heck of a lot closer than the Klamath for me!

Wow! 

I'd love to hear some discussion about this, but my focus is AOTY - valid entry or not.  The whole "should they or shouldn't they" about fishing for Eel River salmon at all is a different thread.
Eric   

No such luck on that one 

Regarding the "should they or shouldn't they" part of this thread, there are valid points being made on both sides by folks MUCH more knowledgable about the biology and politics involved than most of us.  For those of us that just want to get out and catch a fish without doing hours of research on said biology and politics, relying on the regs is all we got, and that in itself usually requires more studying than we EVER did in school. 

Back to the original question, it seems like there SHOULD be no debate.  The difference between "Zero bag limit" and "No take" are clear.  If wardens and judges see fit to lend interpretation to that, then they should not bother printing the regs.

The difference between "Zero bag limit" and "No take" are clear.

That's what I say, especially since hundreds of people C&R salmon on the Eel each Fall and no warden or other official indicates anything is wrong with it - if it's against the law then let's press that!

Dan - I see your point, but I think you can agree that the Eel is much different than a much smaller coastal stream like the Noyo.  The huge historic salmon run consists of many different runs from upstream of where I live.  Having grown up here I do feel a connection to the resources, and I feel that if you grew up on the Noyo and knew the pleasure of catching and releasing fish as a youth and it's still legal now then you should be able to enjoy that legal activity.  If the Noyo has a stated bag limit for salmon as the Eel does (0), then it sounds like that may be appropriate and there are likely people doing it (catching and releasing salmon on the Noyo in the Fall).  But if it's understood that the heavily impacted salmon run there is "off limits", but it's OK to fish for a "hatchery" steelhead or trout there later in the Fall and into Winter, then I'm pointing out that situation is much different than the Eel where many many people are fishing for salmon each Fall under the close watch of wardens - it's a STATED catch and release fishery, and that is different than streams that are open to steelhead only.

When you coming up?   

When you coming up?   

Soon baby...soon   

Got clarification directly from the warden - catch and release fishing for salmon on the Eel River is not against the regs.  He was actually quite incredulous when I told him about people being ticketed on the Russian for "targeting salmon".  He figures there's more to the story...

Try to be clear:  I want the river closed to fishing, but I'll fish it while it's open.  You may not like that, but you're not me.  I also support the MLPA, but I'll enjoy my legal right to fish while my favorite spots are still open.

If I could still rockfish and lingcod hunt this would be more of a moot point..

Be watchful or they are going to take your favorite spot forever.

I plan to be more than watchful - I may even be part of the reason for such an occurence.

It's a trick in life to follow your true heart w/o getting too wrapped up in your own desires.

A paradox can reveal a philosophy.  My philosophy is to do what's right for the Earth and my children. 

If my fellow fishermen, my Brothers, want to hate me even though they love some of my actions, maybe they can find a philosophy in it that will allow healing and growth.

 

Your philosophy needs a logic check. 

I am going to fish for salmon protected under the ESA because its my right.

I am going to support the closure of an abundant fishery because its good for the earth.

Brother that makes NO sense, but if it makes you happy...

I'd like to add that fish are a common resource, meaning that they are "owned" by the public, so they are everyone's fish.  We have the privilege to fish not the "Right".  With this privilege you all have the responsibility to act accordingly.  It is legal to catch and release on the Eel.  What Sean is saying is that because it is legal it doesn't make it ethical.  I also understand what Eric is saying.  He grew up on the Eel and feels a sense of ownership or stewardship for the resource, rightly so.  Neither of these point of view are wrong.  The conflict comes from the fact that we were not good stewards of our resources in the past....habitat destruction in rivers etc.. and now we are trying to be pro-active about managing resources...like MLPA, well over reaction.  I think we run into problems when we take the viewpoint that we are not the problem....it's this other reason that fish are doing poorly, so I should be able to catch my fish, and the government should fix the other problems.  When everyone has this view, we all have a problem.    200 plus catch and release fisherman can take a toll on the remaining wild salmon and guys on the Russian are targeting salmon and pretending to fish for early steelhead.  Just remember this is all a privilege and if we continue to be selfish we could loose that privilege. 

Jim

Thanks for your replies, Sean and Jim.  I respect your opinions very much.  What I don't think you're seeing is that my actions are drawing attention to the problem - what are you doing about it besides criticizing me?  I'm not looking, Jim, for the gov't to fix the "other" problems and let us fish.  I'm saying it should be closed, but it's open and I'm not inclined to sit on the sidelines and do nothing while it's open.  I believe the stories I tell and the respect that I show to the resources will have a net positive effect on all of it.  And, Sean, closing an abundant lingcod and rockfish fishery when almost all other such fisheries are heavily impacted is a good thing in many ways.  What's wrong with saving some old-growth?

I drive a V8 and also recognize that we need to get off of oil.  I'm not a martyr, I'm an idealist.

Have a good day, Guys.