Washington is Steelhead Country

Our state’s wild steelhead are on the brink.
Our rivers are closing.
Learn more and take action now to bring back Steelhead Country.

Learn More

SIGN THE PETITION!

Take action now and sign the petition to bring back Steelhead Country.

Wild steelhead are an icon of Washington State, a bellwether for the health of its watersheds, and the life force of an international community of passionate anglers. Yet the state of Steelhead Country is precarious, and the only way back to steady ground is with a paradigm shift in how Washington manages its state fish.

Sign this petition to urge wild steelhead managers and stakeholders to change course before it’s too late, encourage them to adopt a more conservation-oriented approach to wild steelhead management that supports a future with healthy wild steelhead returns, sustainable angling, and quality fisheries.

I’m calling on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to maximize the quality of Washington’s steelhead fisheries and incorporate strategies that will enable the state to optimize angler opportunity, open more rivers, provide longer seasons, and equitably share fisheries for all user groups. We believe that can be achieved by doing the following:

Refine and improve the strategies centered on maximizing harvest (Maximum Sustained Yield), including the development of a management model that acknowledges the variability of natural ecosystems.
Adopt more dynamic management strategies that have sufficient buffers and sound biological goals, including increased escapement thresholds to account for variable returns; additionally, publicly provide the methods, data, and equations used by the WDFW for estimating these escapements.
Provide transparent and robust documented methods for estimating total harvest, including all sources of fish mortality. This includes sportfishing catch and release, illegally harvested fish, tribal catch, tribal underreporting, and net drop-out mortality from tribal commercial fisheries. Using the above methods, communicate to the public run reconstructions for priority stocks (notably those on the Olympic Peninsula) showing source specific and total fishing mortality.
Modernize and expand creel surveys, catch record card collections, use of sonar, and conduct more rigorous in-season catch monitoring of both recreational and tribal catch, so we can better forecast runs, understand run sizes in real-time, and incorporate various life histories into steelhead management harvest and fishing plans.
Ensure written steelhead harvest management plans are in place with all tribal co-managers before any river system in the state is open for steelhead fishing, including tribal commercial and ceremonial or subsistence fishing. WDFW fisheries managers must work with the tribal co-managers toward accountable, transparent, and sustainable fisheries before both tribal and sport seasons commence. Transparency with the public is also critical in these negotiations, so we ask that you publicly state your positions and goals before negotiations commence and hold co-managers accountable to only 50 percent of the harvestable surplus of steelhead;
Continue to ensure that fisheries management and regulations are better tailored to reduce over-pressure on sensitive steelhead stocks by recreational anglers and guides, especially in areas such as the Olympic Peninsula.

Signed,

What’s at Stake

For generations Washingtonians have been raised with a fishing rod in their hands and a love for steelhead in their hearts. This passion has proven infectious and inspired anglers from all corners of the globe to make the pilgrimage to the state’s famed waters in search of wild grey ghosts. But while the allure of Washington’s official state fish – the wild steelhead – continues to grow, regrettably stocks have suffered the opposite fate, as their numbers have plummeted to a fraction of their once great abundance.

Washington’s continued status as “Steelhead Country” is anything but certain. In the early 20th century up to a million wild steelhead returned to Washington’s Puget Sound each year. Scarcely 100 years later, and that number has been reduced to a gut wrenching 14,000 wild fish – a 97-99% decline! There are a number of factors behind the steep decline in steelhead abundance. One of the most damaging has been lax fisheries regulations that allowed the killing of far more wild fish than was sustainable.

It’s well past time for Steelhead Country to move towards a more sustainable, conservation-oriented management model for wild steelhead, one that preserves our angling heritage while also helping restore and sustain wild runs for future generations.

A History of Mismanagement

State, federal, and tribal fisheries agencies share responsibility for managing steelhead in Washington state. But for decades, harvest has been prioritized above conservation, and both the fish and the fishermen have paid the price.

As anglers began flocking to Steelhead Country beginning in the 1950s, the Washington Department of Fisheries and other agencies saw industrial-scale fish farming through hatcheries as the answer to rapidly increasing harvest.

At the same time, while steelhead may be labeled a “game fish” in Washington, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has managed wild steelhead much the same way it manages abundant food fish like salmon or tuna using a mathematical model known as “Maximum Sustainable Yield” (MSY).

While the data is becoming ever more clear that these models can’t predict the complexity, or the fragility, of wild ecosystems, in some parts of Steelhead Country those tasked with conserving wild steelhead are still managing down to the last dead fish.

A History of Mismanagement

State, federal, and tribal fisheries agencies share responsibility for managing steelhead in Washington state. But for decades, harvest has been prioritized above conservation, and both the fish and the fishermen have paid the price.

As anglers began flocking to Steelhead Country beginning in the 1950s, the Washington Department of Fisheries and other agencies saw industrial-scale fish farming through hatcheries as the answer to rapidly increasing harvest.

At the same time, while steelhead may be labeled a “game fish” in Washington, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has managed wild steelhead much the same way it manages abundant food fish like salmon or tuna using a mathematical model known as “Maximum Sustainable Yield” (MSY).

While the data is becoming ever more clear that these models can’t predict the complexity, or the fragility, of wild ecosystems, in some parts of Steelhead Country those tasked with conserving wild steelhead are still managing down to the last dead fish.

Hope for the Future

It’s a land of giants; towering evergreen trees, luminary anglers, and legendary wild steelhead, some as large as those anywhere else on Earth. Throughout history Washington’s Olympic Peninsula has been called “The Last Wilderness”. Today, it’s Steelhead Country’s last best place.

The Skagit River is another place that evokes as much heritage, history, and reverence as anywhere else in Steelhead Country. Puget Sound’s mightiest watershed is also a beacon of hope for a new future. Closed to angling for wild winter steelhead since 2007 and benefiting from high-quality habitat and reduced, then halted hatchery plants, the Skagit’s wild steelhead are staging a comeback. This is a chance for a paradigm shift. Decades of mismanagement have caused the precipitous decline of steelhead across Washington state. But the Skagit proves it’s not too late to bring them back.

We should have management policies that do not throw yet another obstacle in their journey to recovery. We have the knowledge to implement better, smarter policies that will help restore these runs, and we need to put that knowledge to work anywhere and everywhere possible.

Steelhead need your help now

Take action to bring back Steelhead Country

With rivers across Washington closed and runs on the brink of collapse, now is the time for the angling community to join together and demand a different management approach – an approach that can rebuild wild fish stocks, create sustainable angling opportunity, and allow all anglers to celebrate our shared passion for wild steelhead on waters across Washington.

Take action to bring back Steelhead Country, then share this page using hashtags #BringEmBack and #SteelheadCountry.

SIGN THE PETITION!

Voices of Steelhead Country

"As steelhead fisherman, the problem is our entire lives are spent going somewhere else. We fish a river until it’s gone then we go somewhere else. Then it goes away. And then we go somewhere else. Now we are all over on the coast and what is going to happen over there – I can see it plainly – we are not respecting the place, it’s overcrowded, and the restrictions are not restrictive enough. Those fish are going to go bye-bye too."

-Bill Herzog, sportfishing professional
“I think the limiting factor is the fish managers, especially those that manage salmon. I believe strong steelhead runs are a byproduct of healthy salmon runs. It’s interesting that the most intensely managed of our fish is the steelhead and the king salmon, and they are the ones in the most peril. I think this is the last chance to really make a difference out here.”

-J.D. Love, Olympic Peninsula steelhead guide
“What has happened to Steelhead Country is a travesty, a travesty that continues to unfold as we fail to learn the lessons from past river closures and population losses. It’s heartbreaking to watch how that failure is manifesting itself with wild steelhead’s last stand on the Olympic Peninsula. That said, I find hope in the recovery of some closed Puget Sound rivers and the anglers fighting for these amazing resources."

-Shane Anderson, North Fork Studios
“For those of us who grew up around the vast Salish Sea...who loved adventure trips, exploring, and fishing, how could you resist? With literally dozens of rivers, flowing from two different mountain ranges, and all of them open for fishing, this was the hot bed for any serious steelheader... Wild Puget Sound winter steelhead carried the brightness of the sun on a dark winter day. After landing one I felt an overwhelming sense of well being, like some things were still working in the world. Sadly, populations have plummeted and rivers are now closed to angling. Wild steelhead have been my indicator species as to the health of our planet. I can not imagine a world without wild steelhead."

-Sean Gallagher, author

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"As steelhead fisherman, the problem is our entire lives are spent going somewhere else. We fish a river until it’s gone then we go somewhere else. Then it goes away. And then we go somewhere else. Now we are all over on the coast and what is going to happen over there – I can see it plainly – we are not respecting the place, it’s overcrowded, and the restrictions are not restrictive enough. Those fish are going to go bye-bye too."

-Bill Herzog, sportfishing professional
“I think the limiting factor is the fish managers, especially those that manage salmon. I believe strong steelhead runs are a byproduct of healthy salmon runs. It’s interesting that the most intensely managed of our fish is the steelhead and the king salmon, and they are the ones in the most peril. I think this is the last chance to really make a difference out here.”

-J.D. Love, Olympic Peninsula steelhead guide
“What has happened to Steelhead Country is a travesty, a travesty that continues to unfold as we fail to learn the lessons from past river closures and population losses. It’s heartbreaking to watch how that failure is manifesting itself with wild steelhead’s last stand on the Olympic Peninsula. That said, I find hope in the recovery of some closed Puget Sound rivers and the anglers fighting for these amazing resources."

-Shane Anderson, North Fork Studios
“For those of us who grew up around the vast Salish Sea...who loved adventure trips, exploring, and fishing, how could you resist? With literally dozens of rivers, flowing from two different mountain ranges, and all of them open for fishing, this was the hot bed for any serious steelheader... Wild Puget Sound winter steelhead carried the brightness of the sun on a dark winter day. After landing one I felt an overwhelming sense of well being, like some things were still working in the world. Sadly, populations have plummeted and rivers are now closed to angling. Wild steelhead have been my indicator species as to the health of our planet. I can not imagine a world without wild steelhead."

-Sean Gallagher, author

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Steelhead Country Partners

About Steelhead Country

The Wild Steelhead Coalition, Patagonia, and award-winning filmmaker Shane Anderson have teamed up to produce a new film series and campaign called Steelhead Country. The six-episode series explores the rise and fall of angling for wild steelhead in Washington State – from the heyday of steelheading on the Puyallup River to the litany of legendary rivers that are now closed throughout Puget Sound, including the mighty Skagit. Follow along as Steelhead Country explores the past, present, and hopeful future for this iconic species. Then, take action to bring back Steelhead Country by signing our petition and spreading the word.

SIGN THE PETITION!

Get in touch

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