OLYMPIA, WA—Does time have the power to turn half-baked ideas into golden (or in this case crimson) opportunity? When it comes to the outlawed practice of salmon ranching, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has voiced its desire to find out.
Earlier this month, WDFW presented the idea of allowing private companies to raise and release salmon for commercial harvest.
“Known as salmon ranching, the practice boomed in the Northwest during the 1970s. It went bust in Oregon and was outlawed in Washington but continues to thrive in Alaska. Norway and Japan are world leaders in the business, producing huge quantities of ranched salmon, lobster, cod and other species.”
And as Washington’s wild salmon runs decline and government hatchery production wanes, some say the private sector could have a role in boosting salmon supply.
“The understanding is that hatchery funding will continue to decline and we should be planning alternatives,” Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Miranda Wecker said.
Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.