Hundreds of #LetUsFish anglers plan to protest on the Columbia River in Richland

Hundreds of anglers could show up at a Richland marina Saturday to demand state restrictions on recreational fishing be eased.

Ben Hanes through his Facebook page Let Us Fish and hashtag #LetUsFish is organizing the protest on the Columbia River.

He wants to show wildlife officials that people can practice social distancing while fishing.

“My family and I were on the river this weekend. There were kayakers, yachts, jet skis, wake boarders, pleasure boaters and paddle boarders,” Hanes said in a Facebook post. “I wanted nothing more than for my son to reel in a fish. But instead, I gave him a stick so he could pretend like he was fishing. It was beautiful but sad.”

His Sunday boating trip spurred the Richland man to organize the Facebook group, and he said the response across the state has been great.

Thousands of fishing enthusiasts have been left high and dry since March 25 when the state Department of Fish and Wildlife temporarily closed recreational fishing and shell fishing in Washington.

The move was intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and the disease it causes, COVID-19, because of crowding on beaches for razor clamming and congestion at boat docks.

But recreational anglers involved with #LetUsFish feel they’ve been unfairly targeted.

Hanes, who has fished professionally, called fishing one of the best social distancing activities available. He pointed out people don’t want to fish near other people to improve their chances of catching fish.

“I think it’s our God-given right,” he said. “It’s a great pastime. ... It’s the best thing you can do for social distancing. It’s better than going to Home Depot or Walmart, or even going on the bicycling or hiking trails.”

He suggests if certain parks or bodies of water are problems, then the state should limit fishing there rather than ban it everywhere.

He said 100 people have said on Facebook they intend to show up from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Columbia Point Marina on April 18. And some 400 others have expressed interest in attending.

While some will be on shore, many will be on the river with their signs, Hanes said.

They all will keep 6 feet from each other and practice safe social distancing, he said.

He is also asking participants to park their trucks and boats with one space between each other, launch at other boat launches and bring hand sanitizer and masks.

“If we lose that purpose than we lost the war,” he said. “Other states are promoting fishing as a positive social distancing. There are other states that are giving licenses out for free.”

The state’s decision

The decision to close fishing and shell fishing started with huge flocks of visitors descending on coastal towns to dig up razor clams, said Mike Livingston, the south central Washington regional director for WDFW.

Local communities with public beaches and bathrooms were afraid they would soon become an epicenter for an outbreak of COVID-19, and asked the state to act.

Also, anglers were crowding around river banks and boat ramps, Fish Program Director Kelly Cunningham said in a news release at the time.

Also, many salmon and steelhead fisheries require regular monitoring under the Endangered Species Act, and the interviews by wildlife officials can’t be done at a safe distance.

While the state closed its docks and boat ramps, many other boat launches remain open.

While Hanes and others like him want the state to be more selective about when they’re looking at limiting fishing, Livingston said the state rules simply aren’t set up to do that.

With partial closures, state officials were concerned that it would create confusion about what was allowed and what wasn’t.

“We don’t have a way to control how people choose to fish,” he said. “Everything moved so fast that we didn’t have a way to come up with tailor-fit rules. All of these fishing rules have to go through a process.”

Normally, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife director works with a nine-member commission to develop the rules. They have started to work on developing new rules that would ease the restrictions but it’s unclear when that could happen.

“This was not an easy decision,” Livingston said. “We want people out there fishing.”

Hanes says he hopes the restrictions will be lifted in less than three weeks, when Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order is tentatively set to end on May 4.

He expects if the rules are not eased, then Saturday’s protest will likely be just the first of many.

“There will be more protests. The protests will be bigger and they will be more widespread,” he said. “I want Gov. Inslee and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to know that.”

This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 12:53 PM.