FISHING -- Washington’s marquee salmon fisheries could take a serious hit in a few years unless funding for mass marking is restored to a state budget proposal, reports Andy Walgamott of Northwest Sportsman.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars for clipping certain fins off Chinook and coho at state hatcheries have been themselves cut from the latest House operating budget, out this week, and that has sport fishing lobbyists frantically working lawmakers and rallying anglers to get it back in before the legislature wraps up.

“If there’s not funding, the only way to deal with that is to stop producing them,” says Carl Burke, a lobbyist for Fish Northwest.

The state is required by statute to cut the adipose or other fins off salmon it raises to differentiate them from wild stocks, which are struggling. Hatchery kings and silvers power Washington’s offshore, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, and bay and river fisheries.

The crazy thing is this:

State lawmakers don't seem to understand that providing fishing opportunity is and economic driver that generates a huge amount of spending.   Take one look at the lower Columbia River or the Brewster area when the salmon are in and it's a no-brainer.