CM, although you have the general scheme of things, you are wrong in this case given the language of the bill.

The Washington Senate bill SB 5297 that bans gill nets in the mainstem contains this language:

(ii) The department shall reserve fishery impacts previously
utilized in Washington waters of the lower mainstem of the Columbia
river nontribal salmon gill net fisheries for conservation through
increased wild salmonid escapement or mark selective fisheries
capable of harvesting surplus hatchery-reared salmon where needed to
meet federal genetic protection requirements for wild salmon
populations in a manner consistent with state-tribal fishery
management agreements.

The bill is being promoted as a conservation measure. If the fish that would have been caught in the gill net fishery is simply transferred to the sport fishery then the sales pitch is a fraud. This wording says formerly gill net fish would either go to escapement or be used in mark selective fishery. Since the NI gill net fishery is now primarily in the early fall in Zone 4,5 for a dozen or so days, the uncaught fish (targeting URBs) would not transfer to the sport fishery. There is also a tangle net fishery later in the fall in Zone 1-3 targeting marked coho. Apparently, this bill does not affect the tangle net gear fishery.


Edited by darth baiter (01/28/23 12:50 PM)