Not to cut WDFW for their abundant management miscues, I think it's important to consider that even if all steelhead fishing in WA state, treaty and non-treaty alike, had been entirely closed since 1980, the runsizes we are witnessing at present wouldn't be any larger, with very few exceptions.
Consider, for example, the Nisqually River, which has been closed to steelhead fishing since 1993, has not recovered. It showed some improvement for a couple seasons 5 to 7 years ago, but overall the trend has been in the tank. And the Skagit system, which has been very conservatively managed with respect to harvest since 1977, barely has returns large enough to support a well monitored and regulated catch-and-release season.
My point is, even if WDFW were a steelhead czar, which we all know they are not, and kept all rivers closed all the time, most all of the runs would be exactly what we are seeing. That being the case, what could WDFW have done differently?
Looks like you’re cherry picking, what about the cedar River? Seems that their ‘trout’ are steelhead that have become resident for whatever reason. I’m not disagreeing with you but you should have been consistent and mentioned the puyallup and the nisqually being that they are both in the south sound and IMO way different then the skagit River that is mostly wild and gives salmonids a clearer path to the ocean.
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