Obsessed,

I would like to see a move towards all catch and release. I am just stating a fear. A fear that when we give up our harvest opportunities(whether one chooses to harvest or not) that the tribes will step up their harvest campaign. The WDFW may say otherwise, but what power do they ultimately have, none. The hoh tribe a few years back were advised not to harvest the spring chinook run on the hoh. The run was deemed unharvestable as numbers were under escapement. Sportsmen were not given a season, but did the tribe stop netting. No. and what did the WDFW do, Nothing. The tribes have their own biologists, and most importantly Lawyers, and will act on a unharvested resource. I hope I am wrong, but I have seen nothing to indicate otherwise.

I agree that more fish for escapement, would be intuitively better for a system. Fish spawning in all areas, resulting in a better survival for redds during flooding or other adverse condition. Also the genetic diversity would be greater resulting in smolts that some will hopefully have the traits to survive the constant evolving ecosystem.

The tribes are going to argue against the increased escapement, resulting from our utilization(opportunities, or whatever you want to call it) being excercised in catch and release. To them the fish are nothing but a crop to be harvested.