Steve J, I like your plan. One other thing I would add is that if any of the bought out commercial guys wanted to remain in the biz, they could convert to charter fishing. If the runs recovered quickly, it might just wind up being a lucrative enterprise. If this area of the country became a "destination" fishery, someone would have to get the people to the fish.
A slot machine is the same as a net. It just targets a different species of fish (sucker). I would be in favor of trading nets for slots.