Anglers Plan Rally for Puget Sound Fishery
With the Salmon War heating up, a rally at the West Coast regional satellite office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Lacey, Washington is being organized at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 5. NOAA is responsible for ruling on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s application to allow a Puget Sound salmon fishery. The following announcement was released this morning by the Puget Sound Anglers, the region’s largest recreational sportfishing group:
We need you to support our RALLY FOR FISHERIES EQUALITY this Thursday, May 5, in Lacey starting at 11:30AM! We will be meeting at NOAA’s office, located at 510 Desmond Drive SE in Lacey. This year’s salmon season setting process fell apart when WDFW and the Puget Sound treaty tribes failed to reach agreement. As a result, we were told that neither group would be allowed to fish until either an agreement was in place or a federal permit was issued by NOAA. To date, neither of those have happened and yet the treaty tribes are commencing commercial gillnet fisheries that impact endangered salmon populations.
At the same time, all Puget Sound recreational salmon fisheries – including fisheries in Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish – are shut down with no sign that federal officials plan to take action. This is a slap in the face to the nearly quarter million recreational anglers who make Puget Sound sport fisheries a $100+ million industry! It is uncertain if NOAA will allow any non-tribal fisheries this year. We need you to help us put pressure on NOAA to approve non-tribal fisheries and restore balance to Puget Sound salmon management.
The protest is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 5 at the NOAA Lacey, Washington office (510 Desmond Dr SE). More information is available here.
