Future Fish Management Planned

By Jeff Dillon, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Who's the boss? When it comes to fish and wildlife management in Idaho, hunters and anglers are. They buy the licenses and tags that pay the biologist and game warden, purchase the hatchery fish feed, rent the planes to count critters, and pump the gas in the trucks used to collect information in the field and enforce the rules. They pay the bills and decide what's important. It's the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's responsibility to understand what the public wants and, whenever possible, to make it happen on the ground and in the water. The department's statewide fishery management plan is a good example of transferring public opinion into actions and policies. The current six-year plan expires this year, and Fish and Game has been working on the 2007-2012 plan since last spring. The new plan includes several key pieces. The plan lists broad statewide objectives for wild trout management, trophy bass, hatchery trout, salmon and steelhead, and all the other fisheries programs. It also lists specific management objectives for most rivers, streams, lakes, and reservoirs across the state. These might include catch-rate goals for a particular species, increasing average size, or working with other agencies to improve habitat. So how does Fish and Game set all these goals and objectives? The agency relies heavily on public comments to be sure it's spending time and anglers' money wisely. Fish and Game officials conducted public meetings statewide last spring, and gathered comments through the Fish and Game Website (http://fishandgame.idaho.gov). And the agency conducted a random survey of resident and nonresident anglers. About 10,000 surveys were mailed out, and more than 4,300 were returned. This included more than 500 from each of Fish and Game's seven regions. This is the best way to look at statewide and regional preferences, and to see how well fish managers are meeting angler expectations. Here are a few preliminary tidbits from the angler survey: - More than 90 percent of anglers say it's important for Fish and Game to protect fish habitat. - More than 85 percent agree that enforcing fishing rules is important. - About 80 percent support managing Idaho's streams for wild native trout. - Trout are by far the most preferred type of fish. - A slight majority of anglers say Fish and Game should manage more waters for trophy or quality bass. - About 6 percent of Idaho anglers belong to an organized fishing club, with fly fishing and bass clubs the most popular. - Where reduced harvest is necessary to improve fish size, anglers generally prefer bag and size limits, rather than gear restrictions. Fish managers are still summarizing and analyzing the survey results, and across the state they have edited the new fish management plan based on public comments or new biological information gathered since the current plan was developed. A draft of the 2007-2012 Fisheries Management Plan will be available for another round of public review and comment. It will be available on the Fish and Game Website soon. The Fish and Game Commission this winter will decide whether to adopt the new plan. Thanks go out to those who already have filled out surveys, attended meetings, or commented via the Website. All anglers are encouraged to give the new plan another review this winter. Jeff Dillon is the regional fishery manager for the Southwest Region.