Thanks for a good idea and effort Zag. One important thing is to come off as mainly against endangered native chinook harvest. Not as unfairly anti-Native American. However, explain that during negotiations for a fish allocation via the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) that in order to allow non-Indians to fish the Columbia, the Columbia Treaty Tribes demanded and got the ESA (Federal Endangered Species Act) impact on endangered Columbia Spring Chinook salmon raised from a 9% overall ESA impact last year up to a 15% impact this year (which means 15% of the endangered native springers will be killed and a vast majority sold). That involves too many native fish being killed by their gillnets! The sportfishermen will only get a 0.9% ESA impact to fish for hatchery fish only (taking less that 1/13th of what the Indians are getting). Then the non-Indian commercial netters get a 1.1% ESA impact, leaving the Federated Tribes of the Columbia Region a whopping 13% ESA impact. This was reluctantly agreed to by the NMFS and States of Oregon and Washington due to concern of threatened lawsuits by the Tribes to have the Columbia River dams removed if they didn't get an unfair allocation of fish way over their Treaty law of an equal 50/50 split of fish with non-Indians. Our main concern is with the killing of too many native fish! A good flyer and carried sign should read "Please do not support the overkill of native salmon or subsidize this by purchasing gillnet caught Columbia fish from the Indians or non-Indain gillnetters." Also, these fish have often been left unattended and dead for too long before cleaning onto ice (many Indians will just sell them unbled and uncleaned to the public w/o FDA food inspections). Our secondary concern is the very unfair low allocation of sportfishing opportunity on the very abundant hatchery spring chinook available, despite the fact sportfishers release any native fish caught to a very high survival rate (ODFW studies indicate a 93% survival rate of these released springers; while ALL of the native fish caught by their gills suffer a 100% death rate). Tell would be buyers these facts can be checked at the ODFW offices in Portland, or with the NMFS. ... Good going Zaq! Thanks. ....

If several of you sprotfishers were to go up to Cascade Locks parking lots, and other selling areas, with such flyers to hand out along with rightfully and peacefully carrying protest signs, it should do some good. If the market lowers for these fish that will take away their incentive to keep gillnetting them as much. It also just might help with future negotiations for a fairer allocation of these fish.