The Advocacy was founded in litigation in 2013 trying to get the Department of Fish & Wildlife to comply with state transparency that forbid meetings behind closed doors when adopting fishing seasons during the process called North of Falcon (NOF) The Washington Citizens Sportsmen group camed together via a petition drive objecting to the closed door meetings held between the Department and Tribal co-managers. Thousands of citizens across the state signed onto the petitions.
The recent announcement that the Department had committed the state to an agreement with Tribal co-managers on a ten year Chinook recovery plan in Puget Sound that will likely decimate recreational seasons in Puget Sound shocked not only the public, but members of the Fish & Wildlife Commission as well. The description used was the Department “blindsided” not only the public but the Commission members as well.
In response, the two groups came together on December 21, 2017 and filed a petition requesting the Commission provide stricter instructions to the Dept. by converting the NOF Policy from an advisory policy to a rule. By state law, the Commission has 60 days to either move forward or provide written reasons for not doing so. Read the petition HERE.