Bad Management Threatens Steelhead

Generally, I err on the side of caution when it comes to criticizing fisheries managers. Maybe that’s because I have friends who are biologists, or because I know enough managers on the local level who do an admirable job. But as Dylan Tomine points out in his latest for Hatch Magazine, fisheries management shouldn’t always be taken at face value.

Per the article, the management of Steelhead on the Olympic Peninsula threatens to push those fish to extinction. Specifically, Tomine cites the overuse of hatchery steelhead and their obvious connection to the downward spiral of escapement numbers on the Olympic Peninsula.

Something clearly needs to change in the Pacific Northwest, and Tomine has a good solution. Read it here and see what you think.