These streams represent the best of the best anadramous habitat left in Western Washington. Yes, logging has left its mark...but there are no dams, no metropolis, and much of the headwaters are in federally protected park lands. There is no better stronghold for salmonids to take refuge to weather the stresses of climate change. As far as ocean conditions... well that's not anything we possess ANY semblance of meaningful ability to change. The only substantive factor remaining within direct human control is to curtail harvest.

Treaty right to fish pre-dates and therefor supersedes ESA. I don't see the tribes giving up their treaty right to fish for cultural ceremonial and subsistence purposes, but ESA could certainly cut into their allowed days and significantly squelch take for commercial purposes. Under ESA the days of 5 days a week netting are probably on their way out, but let's not delude ourselves that it would be ZERO.

The limited rec fishery? Hard to deny it's going to continue circling the drain toward inconsequence. As long as these runs remain depressed, rec fishing will take a back seat. At best, it might resemble something like our fishery for ESA-listed CR upriver spring chinook. A predetermined limited percentage of allowable impact or ESA "take" shared by the users as directed treaty harvest balanced against H&R release mortailites of wild fish plus directed rec harvest of hatchery fish. Under no circumstances would the NON-treaty take of hatch steel plus release morts exceed the number of "a fish is a fish" taken by tribal gillnets.

Hard to be optimistic about recovery when ESA protections for salmonids have such a dismal record virtually everywhere they've been listed. The real goal seems to be preserving as much of "business as usual" as possible, while just barely allowing the listed fish to NOT blink out. Human activity (in terms of ongoing fishing, land use, and water use) continues at the maximum possible level as long as the remnant salmon populations can still be maintained on life support. Actual recovery of populations as the end game? Well, that's a horse of a different color.