By Tony Buhr

The Wenatchee World

State officials are considering requiring fishing guides to report the fish they catch.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking for public comment on the proposed rules, said Kelly Cunningham, Department of Fish and Wildlife deputy assistant director of the fish program. The rules would require guides to provide the date and location of each trip, the numbers of anglers and the number and type of fish caught, according to a news release.

“We have no quantifiable data on where guides are guiding — how many recreational anglers are utilizing guides to access fisheries,” Cunningham said. “We have no catch information. None of that stuff.”

People can review the rules at wwrld.us/fishrules and comments can be sent to rules.coordinator@dfw.wa.gov.

Local guides do have concerns about the new regulations, said Shane Moon, owner of Moon’s Guide Service in East Wenatchee. It could hurt businesses by adding burdensome regulations on local fishing guides, he said.

This issue over fishing guides came about in 2016 after a non-profit organization attempted to get a bill passed that would limit the number of guides in Washington state and apply additional restrictions, Cunningham said. The non-profit organization argued at the time that there were too many fishing guides in Washington.

“So, for example, what we were hearing from this group was there are too many guides and the whole river looks like I-5 with all the traffic,” Cunningham said.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said in 2016 that it didn’t have enough data to show whether that was true, he said. The fishing guide log, though, would provide the department with that information.

Guides are understandably concerned about this change, Cunningham said. The biggest concern is whether the department would use the information it collects to further restrict fishing in certain areas.

“What I did say is, ‘Look, I can’t promise that we won’t use this information to manage fisheries,’ ” he said. “In fact, we would be dumb if we didn’t.”

Moon said he always provides the Department of Fish and Wildlife with any information they require.

The proposed regulations are also a result of problems on rivers in the Olympic Peninsula, he said. Rivers in North Central Washington don’t experience the same issues.

Cunningham confirmed this proposed new rule stems from fishing guide trips on the peninsula and the Klickitat River.

“It really shouldn’t be affecting us over here,” Moon said. “They are micromanaging stuff that shouldn’t be micromanaged.”

He said the biggest impact could be to “weekend warriors,” people who visit Wenatchee and decide to go fishing on a whim. It would be a challenge for field guides to accommodate those people with all the additional paperwork.

Moon doesn’t mind providing information that will help protect salmon, but the department’s proposed regulations seem overbearing, he said.

“If we need something I’m all for it,” Moon said. “Some of this is just overkill.”