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The following is the text from the article written by Scott Howell that appears in the May 2008 issue of Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine.


On the banks of the Umpqua River this winter, the only issue hotter than the presidential race is the discussion of the current catch and release policy of all wild steelhead. After recent pressure from local anglers, guides, and conservation groups, the State Commission closed the Umpqua System to harvesting of all wild steelhead this winter. This closure has sparked a heated debate that ultimately will decide the fate of the river’s wild steelhead stocks.

To help put this issue into context, it is important for readers to note that the Southwest Region of Oregon is the only part of the state that still allows the harvesting of wild steelhead. It is ODFW’s (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) belief that several systems continue to support healthy enough wild steelhead returns to sustain a kill fishery. Though many people feel we are way over-due for a statewide closure of all wild steelhead retention, I am going to focus this piece strictly on the Umpqua System.

There are two basic things that we as anglers and ODFW have to come to terms with regarding this issue. One is the simple fact that there is a very good reason why the Southwest Region of Oregon is the only part of the state that still supports healthy wild steelhead stocks. It is not because our fishery managers have done an extraordinary job of managing our resource. They have done nothing different here than the rest of the state. The health of wild winter steelhead populations in Southern Oregon rivers like the Umpqua are simply due to the lack of pressure. The Umpqua drainage runs through the heart of Douglas County, which is one of the state’s most rural areas west of the Cascades. In the past, there has simply not been enough local pressure to negatively impact the robust runs of wild steelhead inhabiting the system. The recent recognition of the Umpqua's large runs of massive winter steelhead and flux of pressure to the river is rapidly changing this.

It is also very important that ODFW comes to terms with the fact that they simply don’t have the funds to do the research necessary to properly manage the Umpqua System. I truly believe that if ODFW had inexhaustible resources at their dispense, they would be able to better manage our resource. But, at a time when fish and wildlife funding is at an all time low, it is impossible for our regional office to get a solid handle on what exactly is going on with a system as extensive as the Umpqua. The drainage covers an area of nearly 4000 square miles and its forks and tributaries run thousands of miles. Assessing the health of such a system is no small feat to even ask of resource managers that are fully funded.

Some of the most troubling science that is at the backbone of their argument to continue the retention of wild winter steelhead, is the current creel survey that started in 2006. This study conducted by ODFW defines bad science. ODFW basically has two people several times a week go around to the different boat ramps on the river and take creel surveys. I am sure as a concerned angler you would find it troubling how little surveying is actually going on. In the last two years, I have never been checked or seen anyone get checked. The same holds true for several of the other guides I know who work on the river daily.

After a recent discussion with Laura Jackson the current regional biologist, I understand that some of the surveying was done by simply counting trailers at the boat ramps and calculating the number of fish killed from this data. Solid science? Is this the kind of science we want deciding the fate of arguably the greatest wild winter steelhead stocks on the planet? Good science or not, the numbers they came up with are troubling. From the survey, they calculated approximately 1200 wild fish were killed on the Umpqua last year. This is far below what many of us on the river each day predict they are. Realistically, it is more likely that this number is closer to 5000. Only an average of 42 fish a day have to be harvested throughout a 120-day season on this expansive system to reach this higher projection. This number becomes very believable when you consider I saw 42 trailers at a SINGLE boat ramp ONE DAY this winter. Most importantly, the point that should cause all of us to pause and take caution, is that Ms. Jackson herself admitted she would be troubled if current harvest numbers are at levels as high as many of us figure they are. It is imperative that until we have solid science to back our policies we should error our management on the side of conservation.

Many of us feel like we are at a cross roads with the management of our wild steelhead stocks. As the Umpqua falls victim to increased pressure we can either take the path that has lead to the demise of nearly every other wild stock in the state or waver on the side of conservation and protect this great resource while it is still somewhat healthy. It is inevitable that at some point in the future the impact from angling pressure will force us to have such conservation policies as the catch and release of all wild fish. Anglers and resource managers alike have to decide whether we want to start these policies while our stocks are still healthy or wait until they have been reduced to a point where we are scrambling to get them back. By learning from our mistakes elsewhere in the past, we have a real chance at preserving this great river’s fish stocks.

It is time that we get passed the emotional side of this issue. Not long ago on the Umpqua (and every other river for that matter) an angler could go out and harvest their limit without negatively impacting the system’s populations. I am sorry to say to the local angler that is still arguing “it is my God given right to kill a fish”, TIMES HAVE CHANGED! All you have to do is go down to any number of boat ramps on the system and the writing is on the wall. As I said, I counted 42 boat trailers at a single boat ramp one day this winter. This was only one of over 30 boat ramps on the Umpqua system. You don’t have to have a degree in fisheries science to see the fate of the systems wild stocks if some drastic management policies are not taken.

ODFW has been presented with the opportunity to be the heroes by saving one of the last remaining great wild winter steelhead runs. It is as simple as having the foresight to see what impact the current trends of increasing pressure will have on the system’s steelhead if anglers continue to harvest wild fish. It may be our last chance to start conservation policies on a river before it is too late. It would be a crime to see the Umpqua go the way of nearly every other river on our west coast.

If you would like to join the fight to help save the Umpqua’s wild steelhead, please sign the online petition.

Contact Scott
(541) 608-0403
Scott@ScottHowellFishing.com