State halts trout-netting program

SANDPOINT — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is suspending a deep-water trap netting program that was scheduled to resume this fall because officials say the department wants to better gauge the public’s opinion of the practice.

Officials want time to address public concerns over netting, study anglers’ catches and investigate options for recovering the kokanee salmon populations.

The Citizens Against Netting Fish on Lake Pend Oreille collected nearly 2,000 signatures last year petitioning to stop the experimental program. They said it would harm existing fisheries and the local economy.

Bill Schoudt, president of the Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Club, supports the program and said the department is bowing to a vocal minority. He said he does not support the decision to stop collecting data midway through the project.

Biologists intended the netting to study populations of trout which they surmised were preying on kokanee. Scientists used data from exploding trout populations elsewhere that forced the loss of another species.

Chip Corsi, a regional Fish and Game supervisor, said whatever direction the department decides to take, it remains committed to increasing kokanee populations.