COULD IT BE?
Another North Olympic Peninsula fishing derby on the chopping block?
That might just be the case if harvest numbers collected by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife have any bearing.
According to those figures, anglers had a banner year fishing for the flatties in the Strait of Juan de Fuca in 2009.
So much so, it seems, that this year’s Area 5 (Sekiu) and 6 (eastern Strait) flatty fishery could take a severe hit.
A public meeting will be held in Olympia the morning of Feb. 10 in which comments regarding possible fishing reductions will be taken (more on this later).
And several Port Angeles Salmon Club board members plan to be in attendance. After all, they want to save their annual halibut derby.
“Sure, we are very concerned,” said Bob Aunspach, a Salmon Club board member. “Regardless of if we have the derby or not, that’s just a big hit to the economy here.
“That goes all the way from gas to groceries to motels to camp ground spots.”
The derby typically draws more than 700 anglers each May.
A little more than 686 derby tickets were purchased last year, even with the Hood Canal Bridge being out.
Throw in the hundreds of other anglers that make it out during other non-derby weekends, and you’re talking about a whole lot of missing cash that even a slobbering horde of Twi-Hards can’t make up for.
Obviously, it’s more bad news for an area that’s already lost the meat of its winter sports activity (see Hurricane Ridge Road washout) and its largest salmon derby (see the Discovery Bay derby fiasco).
“It’s a little concerning for us as a retailer,” said Aunspach, who also works for Swain’s General Store.
“Right now we’re going to have to hold off on printing everything [for the derby] because we don’t know where this is going.”
Big numbers
Part of the reason for that is the size of the state’s 2009 catch estimates.
The state estimated that anglers inside the Strait hauled in approximately 114,050 pounds last year. That’s nearly double the preseason quota (57,393 pounds).
And for many, the numbers are a bit shocking given that the 2009 season was reduced by three weeks and there was a bridge closure during the heart of it.
With a longer season and an intact bridge the year before, anglers supposedly caught 83,000 pounds of halibut.
“This inside water catch estimate kind of caught us off guard,” said Greg Williams, an International Pacific Halibut Commission biologist. “It wasn’t what we expected to see.
“I would be surprised if there was that much halibut on the inside waters [in the Strait], personally, but one just never knows.”
Michele Culver, a state Fish and Wildlife halibut fisheries manager, said the numbers were taken from creel checks and phone surveys done throughout the season last year.
“That’s the only data we have to work with, and it’s the same catch estimation method we’ve employed for at least 20 years,” she said.
“We were also pretty surprised by those numbers, but in talking with some anglers throughout the season, they were kind of giving us a heads up that fishing was pretty successful and big fish were being caught.
“With that [bridge] closure we were actually anticipating that fishing effort wouldn’t be that high. What we found was that fishing effort was considerably higher than what we projected. I can’t explain why fishing success was so great, but there was just a lot more effort.”
Among the reasons, according to Culver, were continued decreases in halibut seasons on the North Coast, as well as changes in the Canadian halibut fishery.
Of course, not everyone is buying it, including Aunspach.
“Those that fish here know it wasn’t the year we had in 2008,” he said.
Meeting of minds
Regardless, the state will plan for the upcoming season as if those numbers are bullet proof.
Now the problem is coming up with a season that works for all interested parties. That’s what the Feb. 10 meeting is for.
It will be held at 10 a.m. in the old courthouse, 1110 Capital Way S., across from the Natural Resources Building in Olympia.
There will most definitely be season reductions (the entire coast will have a 15-percent decrease in quota).
It’s whether or not the season is cut from the front end (April), back end (June) or middle (May) that is up for discussion.
“There is going to be quite a few people there, but we’re hoping we can just talk through the trade-offs of having the fishery during certain times in the year,” Culver said.
“[A derby] is something we would take into consideration, but were hoping people won’t be as polarized in their views at the end of the meeting and can at least agree to some sort of general time frame.”
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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.