{"id":27147,"date":"2025-01-14T23:35:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T23:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/?p=27147"},"modified":"2025-10-13T16:11:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T16:11:27","slug":"meet-james-losee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/2025\/01\/14\/meet-james-losee\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet James Losee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wild Salmon Center\u2019s new Senior Wild Fish Manager aims to be an asset to Tribal, state, and federal fisheries managers across Washington.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

James Losee knows what it feels like to work as a fisheries manager: walls of meetings, high stakes decision-making, the gnawing sense that there are great new tools out there that could really help\u2014and not enough time in the day to go and find them.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
James Losee, Wild Salmon Center’s new Senior Wild Fish Manager for Washington State, aims to be an asset to Tribal, state, and federal fisheries managers. (Courtesy James Losee.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in a lot of situations where someone has shared a big idea with me, or results from really exciting fisheries research,\u201d Losee says. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve thought, I wish I had an extra hour to see if it applies to a problem I\u2019m trying to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Fall 2024, he joined Wild Salmon Center as our Senior Wild Fish Manager for Washington State.<\/strong> For Losee, the new role follows a 25-year career devoted to hands-on fisheries management\u2014both at federal agencies like NOAA, where he focused on high seas salmon research, and at the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, where he shaped statewide policy on where, when, and how people fish. In 2020, for example, Losee led a WDFW decision<\/a> to suspend the practice of fishing from a boat for the season<\/a>. The move\u2014an urgent attempt to reduce wild steelhead mortality but keep state and Tribal fishers on the water\u2014represents the hard but necessary decisions that fisheries managers face at a time of widespread decline for Pacific salmonids<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losee\u2019s new role with Wild Salmon Center is no less ambitious. To reverse the alarming trajectory of Olympic Peninsula steelhead and salmon through science and policy, Losee\u2019s prepared to step in where his former government colleagues might not have time or resources<\/strong>. The stakes are high, with both Olympic Peninsula steelhead <\/a>and Chinook<\/a> now petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile I was at WDFW, I saw how effective Wild Salmon Center is at improving habitat and water quality for wild fish,\u201d Losee says. \u201cBut we can also do more to apply better tools to harvest and angling encounters.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losee is ready to explore new strategies with the Tribal, state, and federal fisheries managers<\/strong>. He\u2019s one of the world\u2019s leading anadromous trout experts and an author of more than 40 peer-reviewed papers\u2014expertise that helped to inform WDFW\u2019s embrace of more proactive protections for Washington salmonids including steelhead<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

While I was at WDFW, I saw how effective Wild Salmon Center is at improving habitat and water quality for wild fish. But we can also do more to apply better tools to harvest and angling encounters.\u201d <\/p>\nWild Salmon Center Senior Wild Fish Manger James Losee<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WSC Washington Senior Wild Fish Manager James Losee (right) and Tsoght Dorjderem, a biology student at the National University of Mongolia, conduct field research in the Khalkh River Basin. Losee is one of the world\u2019s leading anadromous trout experts and an author of more than 40 peer-reviewed papers. (Photo courtesy James Losee.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cJames achieved huge conservation wins for salmon and steelhead in his past roles with WDFW and NOAA,\u201d says WSC Watershed Restoration Direction Jess Helsley. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to leverage his expertise in Washington and beyond, as part of WSC\u2019s growing policy team.\u201d     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below, Losee shares his new team\u2019s big vision, why fisheries management is for everyone, and what keeps him up at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Wild Salmon Center: You\u2019ve spent decades in fisheries management, and you\u2019ve just reupped with this new role at Wild Salmon Center, albeit now from the outside. So what\u2019s your salmon origin story? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Losee examines zooplankton, a critical part of the salmon marine foodweb, 25 miles west of the Washington coastline, aboard the FV Frosti, a NOAA-contracted research vessel. (PC: Kym Jacobson.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

James Losee: <\/em><\/strong>For me, as a kid, it was all about being outside with bugs, snakes, and fish. My family moved to Yakima, Washington, when I was two weeks old, so the rivers and lakes near Yakima are where I ran around as a kid\u2014fishing rod in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always had a deep connection to the outdoors and the water. If there\u2019s water nearby I want to be in it. These days I spend multiple days a week on the water, surfing, fishing, free diving, spearfishing or just walking a stretch of stream. At some point when I was growing up, I started thinking about what kind of work would be meaningful, and close to water. Fish biology has always felt natural. And it appealed to my curiosity, because this is an area with a lot of conservation questions\u2014and an urgency to find answers. Even today, 25 years into my career, I\u2019m learning something new everyday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WSC: What do you hope to do in your new role with Wild Salmon Center that you maybe couldn\u2019t in your time working with state and federal agencies?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One exciting thing is that in this new role, there\u2019s an expectation that I\u2019ll be staying informed on the latest scientific literature and connecting with fisheries managers in other states and parts of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At WDFW, I was responsible for managing the largest geographic region in Washington State, and leading a big, talented team of fisheries professionals, scientists, and technicians. That meant time and resources were very tight. For many of my former colleagues there, this challenge remains. Despite being on a team with absolute experts in their fields, it was really tough to bring science and policy together to create outcomes that benefited fishers while still prioritizing wild fish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, with WSC, I hope to explore new ideas and bring those to the table in a way that is efficient for fisheries managers and benefits wild fish in real time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

In this new role, I\u2019ll be staying informed on the latest scientific literature and connecting with fisheries managers in other states and parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\nWild Salmon Center Senior Wild Fish Manger James Losee<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
James Losee with a large sea-run brook trout tagged for research in Newfoundland, Canada. Photographed in a “fish viewer” (photarium) to reduce handling stress. (Courtesy Gustav Hellstr\u00f6m.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

WSC: You want to be an asset for fisheries managers. What do you hope WSC and our partners in government can achieve by working together more closely?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, ultimately, we\u2019d like to see fisheries managers focus on a long-term vision for our shared fisheries resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, fisheries managers often have to make rapid decisions to address short-term problems. So they rely on the tools available in that moment. But we know that salmon face a really uncertain future. The tools we used in the past may not be working today. Meanwhile, new ideas are being developed and tested outside of the fisheries management space\u2014and those tools are getting better every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So our hope is that we can help managers find the space to take a breath and do some long-term planning. That\u2019s our biggest goal, and it\u2019s ambitious, but definitely achievable if we all work together and challenge ourselves to think big. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a smaller scale, we\u2019re also looking at a number of watersheds that are performing really well. With the leadership of Tribal governments, wild fish on the Quillayute and Hoh Rivers are likely to be stable for years to come. So we\u2019re looking to support state and Tribal agencies to keep protecting these places, and keep these populations healthy and resilient. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Quillayute-Sol
The Quileute Tribe co-manages fisheries in Washington’s Quillayute River system. Wild Salmon Center Senior Wild Fish Manager James Losee hopes to support the work of Tribal and state agencies to protect wild salmon strongholds like the Quillayute. (\u00a9 Mihael Blikshteyn with support from LightHawk.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

WSC: We\u2019ve noted a <\/em><\/strong>paradigm shift underway<\/em><\/strong><\/a> at WDFW, from a focus on \u201cabundance\u2014trying to maximize steelhead numbers\u2014to the broader health and resiliency of these populations.  <\/em><\/strong>What led to this shift<\/em><\/strong>?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The salmon management world has generally been all about the people who want to catch and eat salmon. There are important reasons for that, especially considering the cultural significance of salmon harvest to Tribal governments. But at the state level, fisheries managers get their mandate from a broader group of taxpayers, so it can\u2019t only be about the sport fishers who want to catch and kill.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people in Washington State don\u2019t fish. Many will never catch or touch or see a salmon. And yet they still care. We know this\u2014its been surveyed. People who live here want to feel confident that their natural resources are healthy and being cared for. When they cross a salmon-bearing stream, they want to look down and know that the life in it is persisting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Most people in Washington State don\u2019t fish. Many will never catch or touch or see a salmon. And yet they still care. When they cross a salmon-bearing stream, they want to look down and know that the life in it is persisting.\u201d<\/p>\nWild Salmon Center Senior Wild Fish Manger James Losee<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Washington steelhead. (PC: Pat Clayton.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We choose this place to live and it brings a sense of self and wholeness to know that our home is healthy\u2014that the ecosystem is protected. On the other hand, when we talk to Tribal leaders, it doesn’t take long to see that consuming salmon is really important to them in a way that\u2019s even bigger\u2014perhaps even in a way a non-Native person can\u2019t understand. It\u2019s about feeding the mind, body, and soul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WDFW\u2019s mandate is first to preserve and protect natural resources, and then support opportunities for sport and commercial fishers. It\u2019s that first part that serves all of us in the Pacific Northwest. Most of whom, as we\u2019ve said, do not go fishing. WDFW has made progress on shifting that mindset. This shift will benefit all of us, but there is still a long way to go. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
James Losee’s research on anadromous trout has taken him all over the world, from Mongolia (pictured) to Newfoundland, Iceland, and Sweden. He is currently completing his PhD at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. (Courtesy James Losee.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

WSC: People say <\/em><\/strong>conservation work is a marathon, not a sprint<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. What keeps you motivated?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d say it has to be the underloved fish in salmon conservation, specifically steelhead and cutthroat trout. I\u2019m the cofounder of an organization called the Coastal Cutthroat Trout Coalition, and my current and past fisheries research is based in large part on filling data gaps on seagoing trout species including coastal cutthroat, arctic char, brown trout, and brook trout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research has taken me all over the world, from Mongolia to Newfoundland, Iceland, and Sweden. It\u2019s work that has allowed me to think outside the box and apply tips and tricks learned from other people and places to the work we do here in Washington. I\u2019m thinking of examples like the benefits of selective fishing<\/a>, or catch-and-release regulations over full fishery closures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what I lay in bed at night thinking about. How do we take the best tools available and apply them to the fish management challenges of today?  Over the course of my career, I\u2019ve come to see it as my responsibility to help where I can to reverse the trajectory of wild salmon decline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m proud of the work I’ve done so far, and the small difference I\u2019ve made for wild fish and the people in Washington who depend on them. I can\u2019t wait to continue this work at Wild Salmon Center\u2014in partnership with my Tribal, state, and federal colleagues both here and around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I’m proud of the work I’ve done so far, and the small difference I\u2019ve made for wild fish and the people in Washington who depend on them. I can\u2019t wait to continue this work at Wild Salmon Center.\u201d<\/p>\nWild Salmon Center Senior Wild Fish Manger James Losee<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n

Hero Image<\/h3>\"\"<\/div>

Hero Image (Home Page Section)<\/h3>\"\"<\/div><\/div>