A petition to reopen a retention season for cutthroat trout on Lake Whatcom has been rejected by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The petition, filed by a local kokanee salmon fisherman in February this year, also included a provision to allow two-pole fishing, meaning anglers could fish with multiple poles at the same time.
At the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) staff recommendation, commissioners denied the petition, citing potential harm to fragile cutthroat populations in the lake.
Staffers called the cutthroat trout population in the lake “depressed” as a result of environmental factors, including “extensive logging” throughout the 1980s that degraded riparian areas around the lake, leaving few places for the trout to spawn. In 1999, WDFW eliminated cutthroat harvesting after years of decline.
In the years that followed, the department conducted period spawning surveys, though didn’t report data after 2006. The 2006 survey showed the population was slowly increasing, but was by no means “recovered.” The department hasn’t conducted a more recent survey because funding, employees report, is not available.
Anecdotal reports, though, indicate the cutthroat population may have rebounded. In the filed petition, fishermen report catching a significant number of large, 3-pound cutthroats, even when targeting other species.
“I regularly fish for kokanees in that lake,” said Ron Knott, who filed the petition. “I am catching a very large number of cutthroat trout when targeting kokanees. Some of the trout are large and in the 3-pound range. Knowing releasing these trout have a high mortality rate, this is a waste of fish and counterproductive.”
Cutthroats can range in size from 6 to 22 inches, and weigh anywhere from 4 ounces to 6 pounds.
Though the petition was denied last week, the department plans to survey cutthroat trout populations in the lake in the future, and could consider reopening a cutthroat trout retention season down the road.
“The discussion there was the extent to which some form of data collection work could be scoped out,” said commissioner James Anderson, former executive director of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. “It’ll give us an idea, perhaps, of what the status of the cutthroat are at Lake Whatcom.”
The lake remains open for catch-and-release of cutthroats.
