ARE YOU FUMING?

Boat owners in Washington State be aware…your annual license renewal was due before the 1st of this month. The State is no longer mailing renewal notices but you can get on the DOL e-mail list for electronic notice.

My boat is licensed in Washington and when I went to renew they notified me that ALL boats must have a carbon monoxide sticker attached to the inside of the vessel where it is visible to passengers or big bucks can be fined to the boat owner. In checking this out further, a violation of this section of the law would be $100 misdemeanor, but that all depends on the officer and other possible violations.

The sticker can be obtained for free from DOL either in person or at a sub-agent office or through the mail by request over the internet. Many officers are given a supply to hand out to boaters that are without one. Since this is an education and passenger safety point, officers may warn a boater rather than issue a citation.

ADFG NET-SETTERS

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game took a lot of flack from the sportfishing interests last month when they decided to set commercial fishing nets at the mouth of the Kenai and Kasilof rivers, apparently to catch and sell fish for a fund raising project. They hoped to make $50,000 to help the commercial fishing division manage this month’s red salmon fishery, and they hired commercial fishermen to conduct the fishery!

According to the director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, “This set-net fund raising effort is wrong on so many levels.” It was targeting the early-run sockeye bound for the Russian River which is a world famous sport fishery and it was also making an impact on the early returning Kenai River kings.

This was not a test fishery. The department was simply harvesting fish and selling them and doing it outside of the commercial fishing seasons.

Because of the issues that were raised by sportsmen, the department’s commercial-fundraising fishery was shut down.

INTERESTED IN SOCKEYE?

Who isn’t? Well, if reports hold up anglers could have a yearly fishery within the next few years.

Hatchery construction should begin soon on the Cedar River which feeds into Washington’s metropolitan Lake Washington. Eventually the hatchery could produce over 30 million sockeye fry every year.

There were many people instrumental in helping get the package put together which include TRN columnist Tom Pollack and PSA member Frank Urabeck.

Nearly 30 years ago I was a member of the fishing club that worked on a small steelhead hatchery on the Cedar and at that time our club president Tom Nelson (Salmon U) discovered long-lost abandoned plans for a spawning channel to be constructed on the river. After years of trying to resurrect the plans we moved on to other important issues but there were some that still believed the Cedar could be productive for many fish species and they never gave up. Some of those wonderful people have passed on or left the fight of fishing issues over the years, but we are indebted to them and their never ending pursuit on the Cedar fisheries. With that we will remember the efforts of Bill MacKay, Jack Ballard, Jay Rusling and many others that hopefully will be remembered in the dedication of this hatchery.

NOTE: Due to an apparent conflict of interest between the management at LFS Marine & Outdoors in Bellingham and this publication, copies of THE REEL NEWS are no longer being made available at their location. For our faithful North Puget Sound readers, monthly issues can be mailed to your home via subscription (see forms at the bottom of this page) and are also available at the North Sound locations listed below:

Yeager’s Sporting Goods

Northwest Ave.

Bellingham • 360-733-1080

West Marine

Commercial Ave.

Anacortes • 360-293-4262

West Marine

Meridian St.

Bellingham • 360-650-1100

West Marine

Peace Portal Dr.

Blaine • 360-332-1918

West Marine

Spring St.

Friday Harbor • 360-378-1086

Wholesale Sports

S. Burlington Blvd.

Burlington • 360-755-0500

Holiday Market

St. Rt. 20

Burlington • 360-757-4361

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