WDFW to Hear Commercial Fish Priorities

Washington State fish and wildlife managers are asking people in coastal communities to attend a public forum tomorrow to share their views on the values and priorities that should guide the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

The meeting will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, at the Willapa Harbor Community Center, 916 W. First St., South Bend.

“We hope to hear from commercial fishers, charter boat operators, people active in recreation and tourism, and others who care about fish and wildlife management along the coast,” said WDFW Director Jim Unsworth. “This is a chance for the public to tell WDFW managers what we are doing right, where we need to improve, and where we should focus our efforts and our funding over the next five to 10 years.”

The meeting will be the seventh public forum conducted through WDFW’s ongoing outreach initiative, “Washington’s Wild Future.” More information is available online at http://www.wdfw.wa.gov/wildfuture.

Unsworth, along with senior WDFW managers and regional staff, will be available to hear residents’ views on fishing, including commercial gillnetting in the Columbia River, Grays Harbor, and Willapa Bay, and Pacific Ocean fisheries, and hunting, razor clam management, habitat protection and restoration, licensing, law enforcement, and other fish and wildlife issues.

The meeting will include a brief presentation about the importance of fish and wildlife management to Washington’s quality of life and the economies of communities throughout the state. Participants will then be invited to talk in small groups with representatives of the department’s Fish, Wildlife, Enforcement, Licensing, and Habitat programs, as well as Unsworth and his staff.

Comments will also continue to be accepted on WDFW’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildfuture/form.html and by email to WildFuture@dfw.wa.gov.