Recreational fishing community and local conversation group fill the gap of traditional scientific funding of this poorly understood fish A new study by fishing community volunteers, a local conservation group and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) on sea-run cutthroat trout was recently released shedding new light about…

A relatively small river with a huge impact, the Stillaguamish is at the leading edge of salmon declines and habitat conservation concerns in Washington state and across the West Coast. Endangered Species Act-listed wild Chinook and steelhead runs, a century of habitat loss and degradation, developing communities and changing…

With the 2022–2023 seasons recently announced, we thought we’d take the time to summarize some of our progress so far in support of coastal steelhead sustainability and what the future could hold for these fisheries. Final seasons Chances are if you’re reading this, you may have tuned in to one of several…

Spawning season is an intense time at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) hatcheries every year. Hundreds of thousands of fish across the state need to be manually spawned to gather their eggs and milt (sperm) to create future generations of fish. Depending on the fish species, spawning takes…

From freshwater to saltwater, the frigid Columbia Basin to westside lakes, here are top bets for the first six months of the year. The second part of this series will appear in the February issue of Northwest Sportsman Magazine. Originally published in Northwest Sportsman Magazine Let’s kick off the New…

Thanks in large part to waterfowl hunters Waterfowlers in Washington have another month to take advantage of most migratory waterfowl seasons and some amazing and nationally-known hunting locations in the state. In an article titled 10 Great Cities for Waterfowlers, conservation group Ducks Unlimited (DU) listed Seattle as the number one city in the nation for having…

More than 269,000 invasive green crabs have been removed from Washington waters in 2022. Read on for updates about the state’s Coastal Management Grant Program which supports shellfish growers and other partners, as well as live European green crabs recently confiscated from a Seattle seafood market. The following highlights are…

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) fish biologists and tribal co-managers have forecasted that 5,211 wild steelhead will return to the Skagit River in 2023. WDFW fishery managers hope to hold a catch and release steelhead fishing season on the Skagit and its major tributary the Sauk River in…

Nov/Dec 2022 Season’s Greetings from WDFW! This has been a big year for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). As I look back, I couldn’t be prouder to work with such a dedicated team of professionals striving to conserve fish and wildlife and provide sustainable opportunities each…