The Elwah’s illegal dams are finally coming out, with the first phases of removal slated for fall 2011. There have been a spectacular number of dam removals in the press over the last several years, but perhaps none have held such promise for wild salmon and steelhead. The latest science indicates that it may take hundreds of generations for fish to rebuild the kind of genetic diversity that created the legendary runs of the past, so it seems very reasonable that WDFW is proposing a 5-year moratorium on fishing in the renewed Elwah.
WDFW is accepting comments from concerned citizens regarding the moratorium, and your input is needed. Let’s give Elwah fish a chance! Please follow the link and submit your comments.
Link:
http://ospreysteelheadnews.blogspot.com/2010/12/wdfw-accepting-comments-on-elwha.html
I have fished this area for decades. The Hoh, the Bogie, and the Quilly. I have hiked in the Elwah wilderness. This is a tremendous thing to get behind. These Olympia Peninsula fish are special, and we in Oregon should applaud this.
Let’s not forget. Alas, the monster native chinooks that once inhabited the Elwah will never be back. Indeed, the Olympic Peninsula once bore some incredible fish, most of which we have extincted…they won’t be back. Like most salmon restorations it is perhaps too little too late. Nevertheless, let the “restoration” of the Elwah be a reminder of what we have done.
Yes, give the Elwha a chance, the fishing moratoium is the right thing to do, but adding hatchery steelhead to the mix isn’t. Unfortunately the remaining wild returning fish will be supplemented with Chambers Creek brood stock fish at the insistence of the tribes. I don’t believe there is a single Puget Sound and few peninsula steelhead river that doesn’t see genetic dilution by hatchery mongrels. It seems to me the Elwha would be the perfect place to cary out a grand natural restoration experiment!
This rivershed has the possibility to grow some monster salmon. There are some politicians afraid the dam removal will be a success and it will encourage us to look at other dam removal prospects. A long slow process that can make a major difference.
It’s sad to see tribal leadership reduced to hatchery addicts. European arrogance planted the seed, but these otherwise great native peoples cling to their hatchery fish like a brown bottle. Evil runs deep in the modern age.