H-1213              _______________________________________________

                                            HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 25

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State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Addison, Haugen, Lundquist, Sanders, Holland, Sutherland, Todd, Fuhrman, Dobbs, Brough, Isaacson, J. Williams and Thomas

Read first time 2/8/85 and referred to Committee on Natural Resources.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, TO THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, AND TO THE HONORABLE BOOTH GARDNER, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, The Pacific Northwest is blessed with perhaps the greatest of all game fish, the steelhead trout; and

          WHEREAS, The steelhead trout, an anadromous rainbow trout, enjoys an unparalleled reputation as a game fish, a fish that challenges the most competent anglers; and

          WHEREAS, Economic and commercial development has substantially reduced the natural run of steelhead trout so that today, the majority of the steelhead trout caught are hatchery-bred trout, primarily paid for by sport angling license fees and other sport angling-related tax dollars; and

          WHEREAS, The commercial steelhead fishery accounts for approximately half of the annual harvest of this diminishing resource; and

          WHEREAS, There are simply insufficient steelhead trout available to support both a sport fishery and a commercial fishery, and the economic, social, and cultural value of the steelhead trout as a game fish far exceeds its economic value as a commercial fish;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress enact legislation declaring the steelhead trout a national game fish and prohibiting the commercial sale of this splendid fish.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, each member of Congress from the State of Washington, and the Honorable Booth Gardner, Governor of the State of Washington.