On November 29th, Washington State’s Department of Fish and Wildlife held an online town hall to discuss coastal steelhead fishing plans for the coming 2021-2022 season. This past season saw some of the worst steelhead returns on record and several rivers in the PNW and British Columbia were closed to protect the few fish that had managed to make successful runs upriver. Last year, WDFW shook things up and banned fishing from boats for coastal steelhead, requiring drift boat anglers to fish on foot next to their boats. This year’s proposed rules have some steelhead conservationists calling for harsher restrictions and closures, while others are celebrating the middle ground struck by the WDFW.
You can see the list of the new rules in the graphic below.
What’s your take on these latest rules? Are they enough to protect wild steelhead? Let us know in the comments!
See the full WDFW presentation, here!
Read all information from November 29th’s Town Hall, here!
