2021 Was a Really Good Bad Year - Year-end Letter From The Conservation Angler

It’s been such an unprecedented year that we’ve barely had time to write to our supporters and donors about fund-raising.  But raising funds is necessary if The Conservation Angler is to continue to make a difference for wild fish in these extraordinary times …and as anyone who’s been following the news knows, there’s much more work to be done.

 Closures of our steelhead rivers have been painful.  But it’s the right thing to do.

 As a recent piece on Oregon Public Broadcasting began, “it’s not a good time to be a steelhead.”  This is certainly an understatement; projected returns were so poor on the Olympic Peninsula in 2020-21 that many rivers were closed to winter steelhead fishing, the North Umpqua was closed to fishing, and returns to Columbia Basin rivers were the worst on record, prompting steelhead angling closures on summer steelhead rivers like the Deschutes and John Day.

The Lower Deschutes is my home water. I miss it.

Photo by David Moskowitz

Rather than wringing our hands, The Conservation Angler led the way, organizing and advocating for multiple sport, commercial and tribal fishing closures.  Not because we don’t want you to fish, but because it was the best course of action, based on the best available science, to help every returning wild steelhead become a successful spawner in their home waters. TCA worked to protect spawning fish so we have the best chance for having steelhead to cast for in the future. Some in the fishing community have complained that recreational angling is not the main problem facing the fish.  We believe that is true; but curtailing sport fishing is something that’s within our immediate control (where ocean conditions are not). Anglers DO impact wild steelhead - even with catch and release fishing - not acknowledging that is ignoring the best available science on the matter.

TCA has taken a lot of flak for our position.  But we stood strong because we know we must take the position that’s best for the fish you love even if that means that we weren’t able to fish on some of our favorite rivers. We must do all we can do to protect wild steelhead which are suffering a death by a thousand cuts.

The key to the future is changing the things that have led up to this point. Jim Lichatowich, author of Salmon without Rivers, has stated again and again that current fish management practices embedded in hatchery and harvest practices are only repeating our past mistakes.

 The Status Quo must end.

 TCA secured some emergency room actions in the past twelve months, but we all must pivot to secure wild fish management practices that are responsive to our changing world.

 A constant challenge for an organization like TCA is finding a balance between furthering long-term initiatives and responding to short-term emergencies.  We did our best to find that balance.

2021 Achievements:  Pacific Northwest

Photo courtesy of John McMillan

 Olympic Peninsula

 In November of 2020, projections for wild winter steelhead returns on Olympic Peninsula rivers in Washington – including the Queets and Hoh -- were dire.  TCA supported WDFW’s suite of conservation-oriented Olympic Peninsula winter steelhead fishing regulations including no boat angling, no use of bait, and rainbow trout release that were essential to conserve wild winter steelhead and also provide some angling opportunity on the OP.

 NEXT STEPS: WDFW’s forecasts for this winter are equally poor. TCA is advocating for a complete closure of the 2021-2022 season.

We are also urging the Washington Commission to jump-start efforts to develop a forward-looking recovery plan for the OP’s wild steelhead. TCA will pursue policy, scientific and legal options to secure longer-term protection and recovery for wild steelhead, salmon and trout in Western Washington.

Columbia River

Deschutes River Plume by John Smith

In 2020, Three years of TCA advocacy helped Oregon establish three vital cold water refugia along the Columbia - giving migrating wild steelhead and salmon a safe haven of cool water on their long journey.  TCA continued its advocacy in 2021, securing temporary refugia at Wind River and Drano Lake in WA.

 NEXT STEPS: TCA will advocate for permanent Thermal Angling Sanctuaries in Washington waters and will advance legal petitions to protect source waters for all cold water refugia along the Columbia in OR and WA.

It is hard to call adoption of multiple emergency regulations closing fisheries as a “success,” but TCA lead the call for and adoption of conservative regulations in response to the lowest return of wild summer steelhead since counting began at Bonneville Dam in 1939. Closures included those on the Deschutes, John Day and in the Snake River.

NEXT STEPS: To secure proactive regulations that anticipate ongoing poor wild steelhead returns.

 The North Umpqua

TCA and our partners in the North Umpqua Coalition supported an early fishing closure due to warm water and low numbers of wild summer steelhead.  Together, the North Umpqua Coalition is advocating for a ten-year suspension of the hatchery summer steelhead program at Rock Creek in response to low wild steelhead numbers and high adverse hatchery interactions.

 NEXT STEPS: TCA secured a legislative advisory requiring Oregon to conduct a statewide analysis of hatchery needs reforms and best practices, due to the Oregon Legislature in early 2022.

2021 Achievements:  Kamchatka

Despite the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kamchatka Steelhead Project (The Conservation Angler’s flagship program) successfully completed its 27th year of science and conservation work on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, in concert with Moscow State University and The Fly Shop from Redding, CA.

Though Russian Federation’s Travel Restrictions led to a reduced program, several dozen intrepid sponsors secured travel permissions enabling KSP/TCA to operate two camps on the Utholok and Kvachina Rivers for most of the season.  The angling experience was very positive, with angler encounters contributing to a robust scientific season.

There may have been more wild steelhead returning to two Kamchatkan Rivers than to the entirety of the Skeena. ~ Pete Soverel

KSP/TCA, in concert with Moscow State University and Russian Fisheries Enforcement officials, mounted our second consecutive anti-poaching operation. The operation protected our program rivers from poaching losses that might result from the limited science and conservation program during the shoulder seasons of the typical wild steelhead migration period out of the Sea of Okhotsk .

 Your Contribution Works Hard at TCA

We understand that come November and December, many conservation organizations are seeking your support and that you likely support many of them. We hope you’ll consider supporting TCA as well. TCA helped create some effective coalitions in 2021, and you will find we worked closely with many organizations you already support. But we also were not afraid to go it alone for the fish when the rubber hit the road.

Though TCA is a small organization, we are nimble, effective and our staff is working to assure there will be wild anadromous fish for future generations - to fish for and marvel at.  Often, most of our work is less than glamorous - sitting through endless Fish and Wildlife Commission meetings, poring over regulation addendums, wading through reams of fish return data, dogging (with proper respect) the legislators and officials who pass and enforce the rules that impact our wild fish.  This is the difficult work that affects meaningful change. 

Given our policy and legal track record, I hope you can see that we occupy an important niche in the conservation community…as an entity that’s not afraid to tackle difficult issues and to address any elephant in the room that others may find it politically expedient to overlook.

We truly appreciate your time, and hope that you’ll help us keep fighting the good fight!

 Warmest regards,

Pete Soverel, President

Photo by Guido Rahr

Photo by Leanne Nash

David Moskowitz, Executive Director

If you feel compelled to support us, you may use the typical means - Postal mail, secure digital portal (www.theconservationangler.com), a transfer of appreciate shares of stock, or via a phone call (971-235-8953 reaches David’s direct line).

 One benefit of sending a check is that we do not pay any fees for the privilege of putting your contribution to work for wild fish! The other is that we will have a good address where we can send your tax receipt letter, and our sincere thanks.  Addresses are below, please use the one closer to your mailstop.

TCA is an IRS-approved tax-exempt nonprofit organization – our Tax ID number is 33-1034829.