WDFW, the primary fish management agency in the State, also manages fish for harvest, with a priority to commercial harvest first, followed by recreational harvest, despite what the economic numbers say.

Given dwindling stocks, fisheries agencies need to manage for conservation, but this is much costlier since the collection of most data to make management decisions would fall on the agencies shoulders. Now, commercial and tribal numbers are largely used to determine fish populations.

Old school thinking, and as Preston said, politics....