Here we go again!

[Bodofish]

The Tribes don't care. They don't have to, they hold all the cards. Until the Fed. Gov. gets a court case and the supreme court says the Boldt decision is BS we are stuck with what we have. The State is powerless to change anything.

The tribes have a major trump card. That is, our NOAA permits are piggybacked on the tribes permits. Because the tribal permits are "Fast Tracked" ours are not. So IF the tribes walk out, or just plain won't agree (like Coho-gate last season) then we lose out, not them. We suspect the tribes are using this "Trump card" as leverage in the closed door meetings at NOF, threatening to walk out if WDFW doesn't give them what they demand. Of course, WDFW says any season is better then no season, so they give in. Over and over and over....

Want to make a difference? Sign the petition to open the meetings if you haven't already done so. If you have, than please get some others to sign.

https://www.change.org/p/open-the-wdfw- ... m=copylink

I signed the petition but it still means nothing. NOF is a pimple on the butt of the problem. The Tribes control it. Period. Just because you get to sit in attendance means nothing. They just don't care. NOF is a small gimmy by the tribes who don't have to play at all. The underlying problem is the Boldt Decision and until it is over thrown none of this matters. They hold all the cards and they have more money than the State or any organization trying to come up against them. It will only be changed in the Supreme Court. For that to happen they will need to have their revenue stream dried up.

[Larry3215]

You might be right about that, but the first step is till getting things out in the open. If we can get the process out in front of the public, the tide may start to shift. Keeping things hidden just helps them to keep things the way they are and allows the politicians to keep doing nothing.

[spokey9]

The NoF process might be a small part of the problem, but getting a lot signatures will at the very least show the dept that the average angler is starting to take notice. that's a start in the right direction.

[Bay wolf]

I agree. We need to get into these meetings. It's the only way we can independently verify the stuff that comes out the other end! And yes, it's going to take more than a simple petition. But this petition is just one piece of the battle. Theres the Twin Harbors Fish and Wildlife Advocacy push and potential law suit, there the KING 5 story that will be airing probably next week, and there are the many, many emails, letters and phone calls!

But, the more names we can get on this petition, the bigger message we can send as a collective member group. The show of citizen solidarity cannot be denied. That's why it's so important to get as many people to sign as a show that they are sick and tired of business as usual.
Numbers speak to bureaucrats. The more we have, the harder they can push it aside.

[Bodofish]

You might be right about that, but the first step is till getting things out in the open. If we can get the process out in front of the public, the tide may start to shift. Keeping things hidden just helps them to keep things the way they are and allows the politicians to keep doing nothing.

Yes but the Politicians don't really have anything to say about it. They can make suggestions and hold money over the WDFW's head but it's still all the tribes, the State doesn't have jack to say about it and it's just a courtesy to have them in on the decision process. It's like if an antelope asked the pride of lions to stop eating them.

[Bodofish]

I agree. We need to get into these meetings. It's the only way we can independently verify the stuff that comes out the other end! And yes, it's going to take more than a simple petition. But this petition is just one piece of the battle. Theres the Twin Harbors Fish and Wildlife Advocacy push and potential law suit, there the KING 5 story that will be airing probably next week, and there are the many, many emails, letters and phone calls!

But, the more names we can get on this petition, the bigger message we can send as a collective member group. The show of citizen solidarity cannot be denied. That's why it's so important to get as many people to sign as a show that they are sick and tired of business as usual.
Numbers speak to bureaucrats. The more we have, the harder they can push it aside.

Yes the petition shows we're unhappy with the process. But the Tribes can ignore any and all groups that are unhappy with the process. The State is asked to attend as a courtesy they have absolutely no power at all and all they are able to do is make suggestions. Until the power is taken from the Tribes there will be no changes. Period. Lest you think I'm just sour grapes I've been down this road before on the commercial side and I can tell you there was a lot more money and a lot more civil disobedience thrown at it back in the 70's and it changed absolutely nothing.

[BARCHASER10]

I'll be curious to see if our new Sec of the Interior, Mr. Zinke, takes a position on the tribal issue. The BIA is under him and a lot of other water/land use agencies. Zinke claims to be a hunter and fishermen and his party claims to represent the common man (us) and not rich and powerful special interest groups like the Tribes. I hope he stands with us but I'll bet he just blows us off like all the rest. The State is worthless, only the Feds could offer some faint hope.

[Onmygame]

I'll be curious to see if our new Sec of the Interior, Mr. Zinke, takes a position on the tribal issue. The BIA is under him and a lot of other water/land use agencies. Zinke claims to be a hunter and fishermen and his party claims to represent the common man (us) and not rich and powerful special interest groups like the Tribes. I hope he stands with us but I'll bet he just blows us off like all the rest. The State is worthless, only the Feds could offer some faint hope.

I wouldn't get your hopes too high -

Zinke is a climate change denier.....a regular mouth breather.

onmygame

[Larry3215]

I'll be curious to see if our new Sec of the Interior, Mr. Zinke, takes a position on the tribal issue. The BIA is under him and a lot of other water/land use agencies. Zinke claims to be a hunter and fishermen and his party claims to represent the common man (us) and not rich and powerful special interest groups like the Tribes. I hope he stands with us but I'll bet he just blows us off like all the rest. The State is worthless, only the Feds could offer some faint hope.

We are getting awfully close to arguing politics here, but I cant imagine where you got that idea from. The Republican party is far worse than the Dems as far as supporting big $$ over "us". The Democrats have been slaves to big $$ for a long time and are hardly any better.

As far as both sets of politicians go, if you dont have money to contribute, you dont matter.

The tribes know how all that works and make big $$ contributions to BOTH sets of politicians as do the commercial fishing groups.

Counteracting the money issue is the fact the tribes are a non-white minority, so they are more likely to get the shaft from the Republican party if its a choice between commercial fishing interests and tribes. Just look whats going on with the Standing Rock tribes and the pipe line issue as the most recent example.

We as sport fishermen dont even register as far as political calculations go with either party. Well, maybe a tiny tiny bit with the Dem's as an environmental issue. We are too small a group and have no money to spend.

As sport fishermen, we only have our few votes. Unless we can band together, we dont stand a chance.

[Bay wolf]

The Tribes (may not) have to abide by State law on this matter. It's still not clear what laws they can pick and choose to abide by. Speed limits? But the heart of the matter is the State DOES have to. And since there is clearly a federal mandate that both parties MUST Co-manage the fisheries this leaves the State in a very precarious position. AND currently, since the only way WE can get our permits in enough time to be able to fish is IF the Tribes allow us to piggyback on their "fast tracked" permits, it leaves the State in even a bigger pickle. The State is NOW forced to make a choice. Concede to the will of the Tribes, appeasing them yet again, or stand up to them and risk them walking out and no permits for us! It's a large turd to chew on, but it's one the State created by not working with NOAA along time ago to get better response times for our permits. And going it alone on the permitting process.

It's true. We have no delusions. This petition alone would have little impact on changing anything. In fact, the Tribes have already threatened to walk if the State even hints at opening the meetings. The State is scared SH*TLESS to have them walk, and have to try and scramble to get permits. That would be a disaster as it will probably result in no fishing for us, as the Tribes sail out to net! Imagine the huge backlash by us then!!! But, there are other forces at work here, along side of our petition, forces that are well versed and have the knowledge and means to fire a very real salvo into the State over this issue of closed meetings! We are having conversations now on how best to work together!

So why are we working so hard to get into these meetings, if it could spell disaster for our fishing season? Because we feel that letting things continuing like they are is like burning the house down, one room at a time! By forcing the STATE to open the meetings, there are some possible outcomes as we can see.

1. The State relents, and opens the meetings to the public and the Tribes agree. (Pie in the sky, probably never happen)
2. The State is told they must allow some observers in and the Tribes walk. (Might be possible but it would be a public relations nightmare for the Tribes to continue to say no)
3. The State agrees to let observers in and the Tribes agree, but they wanna pick the observers and they cannot report on anything that went on. (Probable, but we would say HELL NO)
4. The State and the Tribes continue to say no, and it goes to court. (Bad public relations move for both, and we would then ramp up our group and start eating them alive)

We really want the State to be forced to address that they don't allow the public to have oversight in these meeting, and that they have allowed the Tribes to have leverage over the negotiations by having to suck up to them to get our permits!

All else would start to be exposed from there...

[Onmygame]

According to WDFW the series of NOF meetings are PUBLIC -

Each year state, federal and tribal fishery managers gather to plan the Northwest's recreational and commercial salmon fisheries. This pre-season planning process is generally known as the "North of Falcon" process, which involves a series of public meetings involving federal, state, tribal and industry representatives and other concerned citizens.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/northfalcon/faq.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

onmygame

[Larry3215]

According to WDFW the series of NOF meetings are PUBLIC -

Each year state, federal and tribal fishery managers gather to plan the Northwest's recreational and commercial salmon fisheries. This pre-season planning process is generally known as the "North of Falcon" process, which involves a series of public meetings involving federal, state, tribal and industry representatives and other concerned citizens.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/northfalcon/faq.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

onmygame

They are supposed to be public, but they dont actually let anyone from the public in the room. Thats why we are upset.

[Bay wolf]

The NOF meetings that the public are allowed into are nothing short of Magic Shows! Or as one of our supporters called it:
A Dumpster Fire. Lots of smoke and choking stink!!!

The reality is, they hold those meetings with the public for appearance only. And even then, they do a poor job of trying to make it look real. They talk down, like we are a bunch of numb nuts! Then, the rabbit in the hat trick comes! They ask for OUR input. Like their really interested. All the while, the left hand has already started down the course of allocations, closures and appeasement with the Tribes.