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Initiative 640 is aimed at wasteful fishing practices. In the San Juan
Islands in 1993 over 3500 seabirds were killed during the gill-net
fishery and in 1994 over 3000 seabirds were killed during the gill-net
fishery, ref "Biological Assessment of the Affects of the Puget Sound
Area Non-treaty Commercial Salmon Net Fisheries on the Marbled Murrelet,
March 3, 1995. Also killed were porpoises and seals. The Canadians
have also complained about this in 1993, The Vancouver Sun, August 3,
1993 and there was an editorial l or 2 days later in the Sun. Total
news
blackout in the Seattle Papers. Skin divers can tell you about the ghost
nets all over Puget Sound and in Hood Canal. The ghost nets continue to
kill seabirds and seals and small fish. When a commercial fisherman
hangs up his net on bottom he cuts it
loose!!!

There is a Purse Seine Fishery at Apple Cove Point in Puget Sound, the
targeted species is coho, coho catch is 43%, Chum catch is 32% and
blackmouth/chinook catch is 25%. That is a dirty fishery!!

Shrimp fishery on the Washington coast by bottom trawl, l pound of
shrimp
harvested 9 pounds of fish discarded! What happens to the food chain?

Long line fishing for black cod of the Washington coast, huge by-catch
of
young halibut, discarded dead of course.

Starting next year hatchery coho and hatchery chinook will be adipose
fin
clipped. How does a gill-net down 30 feet, at night distinguish
between an wild fish and a hatchery fish?

The Sierra Club has a lawsuit to the U.S. Court of International Trade
against drift gill nets in the Mediterranean Sea against the United
Kingdom, France, Ireland and Italy because of the bycatch waste, however
the Washington Sierra Club is for gill-nets in Washington State.

In Puget Sound the Pacific Cod Catch in 1980 was 3.5 million pounds
harvested (95% commercial 5% sport), in 1993 the harvest was 400,000
pounds and (98% commercial 2% sport). There are no dams in Agate Pass
and there is no clear-cutting. This is overharvest by commercial
fishermen with seasons approved by WDF because of intense political
pressure.
I 640 will allow commercial fishing, but the by-catch must be released
with a minimum of 85% survival rate. If netters cannot meet these
standards, then they
must change their methods, reef nets can meet these standards,
bottom trawlers, which are allowed in North Puget Sound, some areas of
the San Juans and the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Washington Coast
need to meet these standards. Gill nets are the commercial fishing
equivalent of clearcutting because of the indiscriminate bycatch waste
that is often greater than targeted catch.

There seems to be feeling among some of the Tweeters respondents that a
'dark force' ,such as the timber companies, are backing I 640 to protect
there interests and therefore the initiative should be opposed. That
may be true. However, regardless of how great or bad the forestry
practices are if minimal amounts of fish get to the rivers then the
future returns are going to be dismal. At that point the problem is
irresponsible fishing practices. The fact is any of following issues
can decimate a salmon fishery by itself, logging, dams, commercial
fishing practices, and water quality. Failure to deal with any of these
issues means the fishery loses. This is not the 1950's. Mining has
changed, logging has changed, and now fishing practices must be changed.
The catch must be managed on the basis of sound management practices for
wild fish and not whether someone can meet their boat payments. There
is not enough resource out there to keep all of the current commercial
fishing capacity going, especially with the wasteful bycatch problems.


This measure is supported by the Puget Sound Anglers (at least 7
chapters) Trout Unlimited (? chapters) Poggie Clubs (? chapters) the
Friends of the Cowlitz, etc, etc. All of these groups work on habitat,
pen rearing fish, work with hatchery programs. etc, etc.

Gill-nets have been banned in all the Great Lake States, Texas, Georgia,
Florida, California. The allocation of sports fishing and commercial
fishing is being looked at in British Columbia and in this week's
Bellevue Journal American this may be on the ballot in Alaska in 1996.

A sports caught salmon is worth $312 to the Washington State economy and
a commercial caught salmon is worth $16. From 1985 to 1993
sportsfisherpersons paid $18,107,373 in license fees and commercial
fisherpersons paid $5,719,226 in license fees. Some people say I 640
is divisive within the fishing industry. I have lived in this state 50
years and sportsfishing and commercial fishing have never "gotten
along". The fishery has always been managed for commercial interests
and the State picks up the tab.

There have been significant restrictions on commercial fishermen in 1994
and 1995, as well as restrictions on sports-fishing. Returns of coho in
1994 and this year are increased. This has been published in the
Seattle PI, Times, Tacoma News Tribune and other papers. For the first
time since 1987 coho escapement goals were achieved on the Skagit and
Stilliguamish Rivers. You can contact WDF for details.

Sportfishers in Oregon tried to go thru the legislative process for a
similiar effort this year, they were shot down. It seems that no matter
how the subject is presented it is poorly timed, poorly written, not
quite right, but if, what if, etc etc etc