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Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

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Letter: Focus on salmon tributaries

By Chris Hyland, WALLA WALLA
Published: March 1, 2021, 6:00am

In Terry Otto’s recent outdoors column, there was an update on the upcoming Columbia River spring chinook season (“Coho run projections excite anglers,” The Columbian, Feb. 18). It presented, in a positive light, that “For the last two years returns to the Cowlitz River were too low to allow fishing on those stocks in the lower Columbia. But, other than a possible fishing closure bubble at the mouth of the Cowlitz, as well as the closure of the Cowlitz itself, the lower Columbia will stay open.”

While that is great for anglers who fish the mainstem Columbia River, that is not good news for those anglers who would like to fish the Cowlitz.

Another way to look at this is that all the sacrifices made by residents in the Cowlitz Basin for salmon will be used to benefit those who fish the mainstem Columbia.

If the state fish and wildlife departments continue to prioritize mainstem Columbia River fisheries over the tributaries, there is little incentive for those tributary residents to make efforts for salmon recovery. Why would anyone do work (regardless of the type) if others receive all the benefits? Its like going to your job and at the end of the week someone else gets the paycheck.

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