Did any of you read the 03/16 post on the bulletin board part of this site from "Can't believe my eyes" he/she was talking about the wild steelhead being netted at LaPush and sold for $1 a pound... I don't know where else this is happening, but here's my thoughts on this subject...

The reason this is happening is MONEY... lets face it. LaPush, especially is a very depressed place. If we took the money out of the equation, or proved to them that they could make much more money from the same fish (and let those fish live) then this netting wouldn't happen. What I'd like to see is someone teach the Native netters down there that if they instead turned to guiding, like has happened in other places (Queets, Quinault, isn't it?) then they could make more money off the fish AND let the fish live and go up river and spawn... for future years.

Barring this, maybe some people (ie. guides that use the Quill system, fishermen that love to fish there) should get together and put some money together and pay the Natives NOT TO FISH... somewhat like the U.S. Agriculture subsidies... if the Natives are only getting $1.00 a lb., it sounds like they're only making a couple of grand a week at the peak of the run... not all that much money in the scheme of things, especially if we're talking about decimating a wild stock.

-Norm.