Welcome to the new developing management paradigm! With a variety of wild salmon stocks in trouble it is becoming more and more common to close freshwater seasons (game fish seasons) to prevent impacts on those wild stocks. This has been common in the north Puget Sound area and now appears to be spreading.

An interesting aspect is if there are co-mingled harvest salmon species/populations available then folks may once again gain access to various game fish opportunities. In that north Sound area once those game fish opportunities are lost it has proven to be difficult to regain them. I supposes such closures given the appear to the non-fishing public that active steps are being taken to save the various salmon resources that are in "trouble". This even though in nearly every case the root cause of the salmon stock in question declines are in order habitat lost, impacts in marine mixed stock fisheries, climate changes and lowest on the impact tree freshwater game fish seasons.

It has become abundantly clear that for the vast majority of Washingtonians salmon recovery is not really about recovery the fish but rather creating the appearance of doing something for the fish while not impact to any significant degree the average citizens' lives or the ability of large business's to make money.

Curt