MA-7 just closed after 7 days of fishing. WDFW is claiming the reason is a high effort on the quota of 1382 fish (for perspective, in 2014 MA-7 was open for 8 months. Now in 2021, it remained open for 7 days). The reason for the closure is simple; the treaty tribes have succeeded in […]

Having done its job for them, Fish Northwest is dismissing WDFW from this portion of the lawsuit filed on April 28th in the Federal Court, Western District of Washington, without prejudice. A major objective of the litigation has been achieved in just a few months, and the state can no longer claim the necessity for […]

In 2014 the co-managers (WDFW and the Puget Sound Tribes) multi-year ESA fishing permit issued by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) expired. This permit had allowed each of the co-managers to conduct fisheries under their authority. To this date, the co-managers have not agreed on the specifics of a new multi-year management plan. Without such […]

Fish Northwest (FNW) is a Washington nonprofit corporation committed to the conservation and preservation of Puget Sound salmon and to restoring sustainable fishing opportunities for Washington’s anglers. At 5 PM today FNW filed suit in the Federal Court, Western District of Washington, claiming the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and other federal agencies are violating […]

https://www.stitcher.com/show/495596/episode/82835686

The sentences in quotes are taken directly from the recently circulated letter from Ron Garner, the president of PSA. Our responses are directly beneath. “A Fish NW advisor on our PSA State Board meeting talked about this lawsuit and he said that he sees this as the end of fishing”. What was actually said was […]

As predicted, and based on last night’s NOF meeting, it appears a near certainty that the winter blackmouth fishery will again be closed for the majority of Puget Sound in 2022. What the WDFW and the Stillaguamish Tribe point to as the reason for this is a low return of both hatchery and wild fish […]

To correct what it perceives to be ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act and related court orders and management plans regarding the fair and lawful administration of Washington’s salmon season setting process, Fish Northwest sent a 60-day “Notice of Intent to Sue” to various federal and state agencies and the treaty tribes on January […]

We see little chance for the restoration of blackmouth fishing in the winter of 2022, but if by chance the Director does find a way, do not take the bait and applaud him. Having something restored which should never have been surrendered is neither a win nor a victory. Though the Stilly hatchery fish debacle […]

I want to thank all of our members and new donors for their trust and support. It’s been a busy three weeks for us as our membership roster has exploded. We’ve gone from the original 5 members back in May of 2020 to over 270 individual members and over 30 businesses and organizations (to include […]