10-11-2006, 12:18 AM
[cool][#0000ff]I sent an email to Alan Ward (DWR) about the obvious violations on Strawberry. This is his reply:[/#0000ff]
I quickly browsed through the thread, and can provide a few comments related to the enforcement at Strawberry. First of all, our officers do a great job up there with the resources they have. We also get considerable help from the Forest Service and Wasatch County officers.
It is a daunting task to cover as much area as our officers are expected to cover. The Strawberry Valley has an officer dedicated to the task,
but he also has to cover all of the hunts, and fill in for other officers as well. He writes a lot of tickets, but there is no way to be everywhere all of the time. As most who fish it are aware, Strawberry gets an incredible amount of pressure.
However, on a positive note, things are getting better rather than worse overall. The overall violation rate was higher during our saturation patrols and road blocks in 2002 (7% prior to the new regs), than it has been since (averaging about 2.5% since 2003). This means that almost 98% of the people checked are not in violation. However, most of the violations in recent years have been slot limit violations, whereas prior to the slot limit the bulk of the violations were for
fishing without a license or fishing with two poles etc. During the saturation patrols we typically have 2 officers at each boat ramp, and other officers patrolling the other access points to check every boat and angler on the reservoir, searching coolers and live wells. The road blocks are intended to stop every vehicle on the road out of the marina, and again check vehicles for fish.
Any violation of the regulations is not a good thing, and we know that it happens. Peer pressure from fellow anglers, and people reporting
violations does help, so keep it up. However, the bottom line is we are seeing positive improvements in the fishery at Strawberry. Cutthroat numbers and size have increased dramatically over the last few years, and more importantly, the chub numbers have decreased (by 60% from the fall of 2002 to the fall of 2005, and one year old chubs have decreased by 95%).
We will be conducting our gillnetting surveys again next week, so be looking for those results in an upcoming meeting (i.e. SAA or Stonefly meeting) as we get those numbers tabulated. The purpose of the regulations was to reduce chub numbers, and we are seeing those benefits. My hat is off to those anglers who do follow the rules, and I would like to thank you for the positive results we are seeing. I think that much of the public education efforts (signs, pamphlets, etc.) have been working to some degree.
I am also forwarding this to the officer who works at Strawberry so he is appraised of the concern, as he probably could have answered this better than I. Again, thanks for the concern and keep reporting the violations you do see.
Alan Ward
Strawberry Project Leader
UDWR
[signature]
I quickly browsed through the thread, and can provide a few comments related to the enforcement at Strawberry. First of all, our officers do a great job up there with the resources they have. We also get considerable help from the Forest Service and Wasatch County officers.
It is a daunting task to cover as much area as our officers are expected to cover. The Strawberry Valley has an officer dedicated to the task,
but he also has to cover all of the hunts, and fill in for other officers as well. He writes a lot of tickets, but there is no way to be everywhere all of the time. As most who fish it are aware, Strawberry gets an incredible amount of pressure.
However, on a positive note, things are getting better rather than worse overall. The overall violation rate was higher during our saturation patrols and road blocks in 2002 (7% prior to the new regs), than it has been since (averaging about 2.5% since 2003). This means that almost 98% of the people checked are not in violation. However, most of the violations in recent years have been slot limit violations, whereas prior to the slot limit the bulk of the violations were for
fishing without a license or fishing with two poles etc. During the saturation patrols we typically have 2 officers at each boat ramp, and other officers patrolling the other access points to check every boat and angler on the reservoir, searching coolers and live wells. The road blocks are intended to stop every vehicle on the road out of the marina, and again check vehicles for fish.
Any violation of the regulations is not a good thing, and we know that it happens. Peer pressure from fellow anglers, and people reporting
violations does help, so keep it up. However, the bottom line is we are seeing positive improvements in the fishery at Strawberry. Cutthroat numbers and size have increased dramatically over the last few years, and more importantly, the chub numbers have decreased (by 60% from the fall of 2002 to the fall of 2005, and one year old chubs have decreased by 95%).
We will be conducting our gillnetting surveys again next week, so be looking for those results in an upcoming meeting (i.e. SAA or Stonefly meeting) as we get those numbers tabulated. The purpose of the regulations was to reduce chub numbers, and we are seeing those benefits. My hat is off to those anglers who do follow the rules, and I would like to thank you for the positive results we are seeing. I think that much of the public education efforts (signs, pamphlets, etc.) have been working to some degree.
I am also forwarding this to the officer who works at Strawberry so he is appraised of the concern, as he probably could have answered this better than I. Again, thanks for the concern and keep reporting the violations you do see.
Alan Ward
Strawberry Project Leader
UDWR
[signature]