Cowlitz,

Though your arguments are generally sound, here is another possible reason we can't harvest them that hasn't been addressed yet.....run prediction.

I'm guessing on this and acknowledge it is not the strongest argument but WDFW needs accurate jack counts as part of the their formula for predicting future runs.

If jacks are taken before they are counted at the barrier dam it's harder to get an accurate idea of their numbers and that too has to then be guessed.....which is bad. Once the jacks have been counted, WDFW has them on paper and they can then be harvested.

Again, this is all theory on my part but the friends of mine who are fish biologists have all said in the past that accurate jack counts are crucial for prediction of future run sizes.

Food for thought.