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Monthly Archives: September 2010

This blog is a Kitsap Sun reader blog. The Kitsap Sun neither edits nor previews reader blog posts. Their content is the sole creation and responsibility of the readers who produce them. Reader bloggers are asked to adhere to our reader blog agreement. If you have a concern or would like to start a reader blog of your own, please contact sunnews@kitsapsun.com.

Silverdale Chamber Director Michael Broome is Gone

In an e-mail statement made earlier today by Board of Directors President, Chris Koebelin, Silverdale Chamber Executive Director, Michael Broome, is no longer at the helm of the Chamber:

From the Board of Directors

“Thank you to all of our members for your continued support of the growth and positive change in the Silverdale Chamber of Commerce.  The Board of Directors is continuing to look for ways to improve our organization and continue the momentum we have enjoyed over the past year.  We have recently parted ways with our Executive Director Michael Broome.  Mr. Broome was an important part of our positive changes over the past 9 months and we wish him well in his future endeavors.  The direction that the Silverdale Chamber will head is one that is consistent with what we have been doing”….

Lynsi Burton, a staff writer with the Central Kitsap Reporter, submitted the following story on September 8th:

“After nine months on the job, Michael Broome, executive director of the Silverdale Chamber of Commerce, is no longer with the chamber.

An office administrator at the chamber confirmed Broome’s departure Wednesday afternoon. When Broome was contacted, he declined to comment on the nature of his exit and said the Board of Directors is still discussing details on the decision.

Chris Koebelin, president of the chamber’s Board of Directors, has not returned requests for comment.”

As an active member of the Silverdale Chamber, I’m anxious to know why Mr. Broome would leave at a time when so much positive momentum was taking place? His enthusiasm, humor, creative energy will be sorely missed!

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The Rape of Hood Canal WA

As an avid crabbing enthusiast, I spend a lot of time out on the Hood Canal during the Summer months, motoring around in my trusty C-Dory, in pursuit of the prized Dungeness Crab.

Labor Day weekend normally signals an end to the recreational crabbing season for Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal), so we were out dropping our pots, hoping to finish the season with nice legal limit (5 male dungeness crabs per licensed person).

As we headed into the public boat ramp at Miami Beach in Seabeck WA, we noticed what appeared to be a commercial fishing boat offloading oysters at the ramp. As we got closer, we noted two WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife patrol trucks and several WDFW officers observing the unloading of their harvest.

Evidently, one of the local tribal fisheries had employed some migrant workers (a common practice used to avoid a regulation loophole so that oysters can be harvested from public land). Unfortunately, none of the workers possessed the proper licensing required, and the tally of oysters was well beyond the legal limits.

This prompted me to access the WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Enforcement website, where I found their Quarterly Enforcement Newsletters.

I never realized that such blatant violations as mentioned above were so commonplace and prevalent in the Puget Sound.

I, for one, am thankful that we have an agency such as the WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife to enforce and deter such illegal activities. Unfortunately, their reach and effectiveness is limited. For every violator that is caught, dozens go on undetected.

According to the WDFW website, there are currently only 141 commissioned Fish and Wildlife Officers in Washington, approximately 1 for every 43,288 citizens. The State of Washington encompasses 66,582 square miles, 157 miles of coast line, 3,026 miles of shoreline, 8,000 lakes and 40,000 miles of rivers and streams.

As concerned citizens and faithful stewards of the rich bounty afforded to us, we need to support the officers of Fish & Wildlife, and report potential violators immediately.

For instructions on how to report potential poaching violators, GO HERE.

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