It's safe to say the lower river is still open to recs SO THAT there is justification for the nets to go in 4 days. If we can't fish, they can't fish thing. Nobody gillnets the tribs, so it was all too easy to put the entire conservation burden on the upriver crowd and shut us down. Conveniently, closing the tributaries "frees up" more quota for take in the lower river.

The purpose WDFW cited in their release was to ensure what few fish were in the tribs had the opportunity to spawn. Since that release was put out, we have learned the species of concern is, as always and ironically enough, Chinook. Right or wrong, each of the tribs is allocated some number of catch and release impacts on Chinook, and if the tribs are closed, those impacts can be shifted to the lower river fisheries (particularly gillnets). WDFW Region 6 staff never miss an opportunity to put gillnets in the Chehalis, so here we are....