Idaho’s Big Salmon and Steelheads Need Little Fish to Eat

Idaho is suited to all styles of fishing - drifting, backtrolling, spin fishing or fly fishing - from shore or from the boat. The Gem State has some of the best fishing in the country, including Chinook salmon and Steelhead trout. Many of these great fighters will weigh 20 pounds or more. Such large, strong fish attract anglers from throughout the world. Waters around Idaho are famous for the large "B-Run" Steelhead that return to the spawning areas after two years in the ocean. Our state has some of the top streams in the northwest and is supported by the worlds largest Steelhead/Salmon Hatchery.

Big Fish Eat Little Fish
Small schooling species such as sardines, anchovies and other forage fish eat plankton and in turn become a critical food source for everything above them on the food web, including seabirds, whales, and bigger fish like salmon and tuna. Thus, if you care about big (and plentiful) Salmon and Steelhead, then you also need to care about the management of tiny fish way out in the ocean.

"Forage fish are a huge part of the food web out in the ocean," Hayes wrote. "If there are not enough forage fish then the predator fish further up the food chain, like salmon and steelhead, dwindle in numbers. Unfortunately, the global demand for forage fish is growing and these important little fish are being scooped up and then being ground up into food, poultry and fish farms."

What You Can Do 
 There's something you can do about it today, writes Justin Hayes on the Idaho Conservation League website. "If you are like me, and you want these fish to get eaten in the ocean by salmon and steelhead instead of being fed to chickens and pigs, then you need to make your voice heard," Hayes said.

According to the Pew Charitable Trust, in 2012, west coast fishery managers recognized the need to protect tiny but vitally important fish in order to maintain a healthy and balanced ocean ecosystem here along the Pacific coast. This is due, thanks in large measure, to a strong demonstration of public support. Last June, the Council adopted a policy objective to prohibit new fisheries targeting currently unmanaged forage fish because of their role in sustaining a healthy ocean food web. The California Fish and Game Commission adopted a similar policy for state waters within three miles of California's picturesque beaches. However, the best of intentions mean very little without action to back them up.

They need your help to keep the momentum going in 2013. 
According to the Idaho Conservation League, the first-ever Fishery Ecosystem Plan is now available for public comment, and the Pacific Fishery Management Council has a chance to move ecosystem protection from theory into practice. However, the best of intentions mean very little without action to back them up. The council's public comment period closes soon. Please take a moment to tell the council that it's time to enact firm measures to sustain the Pacific marine ecosystem, starting by protecting the ocean food web.

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