Harvest rules are built on foundation of scientific surveys, computer models and joint deliberations involving representatives of treaty tribes, several states, the federal government and the public.

Drawing on data collected from thousands of stream and harvest surveys and computer modeling techniques, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) works each year with tribal co-managers, other governments and the public to craft fishing seasons that protect weak wild fish populations while providing harvest opportunities on plentiful wild and hatchery stocks.

Managing Washington's fisheries – in particular salmon – is acknowledged as one of the most complex natural resource challenges in the country, due to the interplay of biological and geographical factors. Salmon are migratory, passing from freshwater streams down the state's major rivers, out to sea and back again. A chinook salmon that begins life in the Skagit River, for example, will journey down river through Puget Sound, along the coast of British Columbia and as far as Alaska before returning to its birthplace to spawn. Biologically, this means fish survival rates depend on habitat conditions over thousands of miles of fresh and saltwater. Politically, it means that harvest in other states and Canada affects the number of fish that return to Washington waters, where federal treaty rights ensure state Indian tribes up to half of Washington's allowable harvest.

The annual process of setting scientifically sound fishing seasons begins each year with a pre-season forecast of the abundance of various individual fish stocks. These forecasts are based on estimates of the number of juvenile wild salmon produced in a river system, surveys of adult fish spawning in the wild, counts of fish returning to hatcheries, and samples from fisheries in "terminal" areas – the waters near the home streams where fish are returning. Taken together, these numbers usually can give an indication of the strength of the upcoming season's fish populations.

The forecast is added to a base of information on the historic run-size strength and fishery impacts for the various fish populations. The primary tool used to develop this base of information for chinook salmon is coded wire tags, which bear identifying information and are inserted into the snouts of young fish. Later, the coded wire tags can be extracted from fish sampled in fisheries or recovered from spawning grounds.

After the biological information and data gleaned from coded wire tags is agreed to by the co-managers, they are assembled into a computer model that offers a snapshot of an upcoming season's fishery under various regulation options. The results from these computer simulations are then compared to conservation goals, obligations under U.S.- Canada treaties, allocations for tribes and protection requirements for some wild fish population under the Endangered Species Act.

The conservation goals are designed to ensure that enough fish survive harvest in order to spawn and perpetuate the long-term health of the run. These goals are set jointly by state and tribal fish managers, based on the best available scientific information on the number of fish a given stream is capable of supporting and the number of "recruits," or new fish that can be produced by each pair of spawning adults.

Because state fishing activities affect species that migrate over thousands of miles, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife participates in three separate harvest management panels:

• The Pacific Salmon Commission, which consists of representatives of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Canada, the treaty Indian tribes of Washington and the Columbia River and the federal government. All state commissioners are selected from a nomination list provided by respective governors. Panels and technical committees within the commission address specific fisheries such as Fraser River sockeye.

• The Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) which includes the principal fisheries officials from the states of California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, the regional director of the National Marine Fisheries Service and eight private citizens appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce from lists submitted by each state governor, jointly manages coastal fisheries, including salmon and groundfish from three to 200 miles off shore. The season setting process occurs in a series of public meetings.

• The North-of-Falcon public planning forum in which federal, state and tribal fish managers meet in tandem with PFMC deliberations on ocean seasons, to set recreational and commercial salmon fisheries for waters within three miles of the coast of Washington and northern Oregon, as well as Puget Sound. The North of Falcon season setting process occurs in a series of public meetings each spring, attended by federal, state, tribal and commercial fishing industry representatives, as well as other concerned citizens.

Fishing season options are developed each year in the late winter and early spring. Even after seasons are set each April. WDFW and the tribes monitor in-season activity to gauge what is actually happening on the water and whether seasons should be adjusted accordingly. For example, a fishery may be closed because a quota has been reached; fishing rules may be modified to allow recreational fishing to increase or decrease by limits, or fishing opportunities may be changed if information from test fisheries indicates the number of fish actually returning is substantially different from pre-season estimates.

Because the season setting process involves using complex scientific data and computer modules – and many spirited discussions – the general public often feels disenfranchised from understanding the process.

Our goal at WDFW is to make the process more understandable so that the public knows how the decisions are made, who makes them and where they can participate.

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