Steelhead catch-and-release rule lifted for some rivers

OLYMPIA – The state Fish and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously Thursday to lift the catch-and-release rule for wild steelhead on a dozen rivers in Western Washington.

The catch-and-release rule, which took effect in May and runs through March 31, 2006, remains in place for all other steelhead rivers in the state.

Commissioners also voted 6-to-3 to impose an annual limit of one wild fish per angler on the 11 affected Olympic Peninsula rivers and the Green River, which runs through southeast King County.

The new limit takes effect Oct. 3.

In partially scrapping the moratorium, commissioners agreed with critics who said the Olympic Peninsula’s economy would suffer if it could not offer anglers the chance to take home a trophy fish from the area’s famed steelhead rivers.

The nine-member commission, which sets policy for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, also cited the lack of adequate public input before the moratorium was approved in February.

Conservationists had argued that the moratorium would help some of the last healthy runs of an important species.

The rule change applies to the Bogachiel, Calawah, Clearwater, Dickey, Goodman, Green, Hoh, Hoko, Pysht, Quillayute, Quinault and Soleduck rivers.

The commission also called for a comprehensive plan to manage steelhead statewide.

Habitat destruction and overfishing have hurt steelhead in recent decades.

In the mid-1950s, sport fishermen took more than 60,000 wild steelhead from Washington rivers. In 2003, they took 3,554, according to Department of Fish and Wildlife data.