KGMI News
OLYMPIA, Wash. – A salmon fishing agreement reached in secret between the state and tribal co-managers could put severe restrictions on fishing around Puget Sound.
KING-5 reports fishers and the Fish and Wildlife Commission decry the lack of transparency in the mediation process.
Commissioner Larry Carpenter said the recently released plan would devastate fishing opportunities and be detrimental to business.
“We’re a policy body. If we don’t have the facts, it’s difficult to make significant policy decisions. And I feel like we were really, really left out on a limb on this one,” Carpenter said.
NOAA still has to approve the plan, which would reduce the amount of Chinook that could be affected by fishing from 12 percent to 8 percent for the next 10 years.
The Salmon Resource Manager for Fish and Wildlife said the impact “is likely to be quite severe.”