I don't claim to me the most knowledgeable person on steelhead issues, but from what I can tell, there is pretty good science that wild steelhead should be released in MOST rivers in this state.

There are a few rivers where the science more a matter of theory rather than fact combined with the mistrust of the current management system to maintain the populations at fishable levels. I really can't blame anyone for that mistrust because I share it, but what is different about RFA is a difference in philosophy.

We are NOT a conservation organization, we are an angler rights organization. We don't go out of our way to critique our own methods of fishing because our impacts are a drop in the bucket compared to the impacts of other problems. In the rare cases where anglers are the primary reason for the decline, then we are willing to take our lumps, but we are not willing to just give up on the tough issues and concentrate on further restricting ourselves just because its easier. We have over-regulated people out of the sport already, mostly the average person who doesn't want to spend an hour studying the regulations book just so they can go catch a couple fish.

The WSR issue is a balance. We certainly are happy to endorse steps that preserve angler opportunity. But it becomes difficult when those steps eliminate what to some anglers IS opportunity. We also step back and take a national perspective on the issue. Mandating release of an entire fishery is a very dangerous proposition. We can not allow that management tool to become common place as a result of the fisheries management process failure to manage things correctly. It removes anglers from the sport, hurts our industries, and allows our managers to maintain fish stocks at critically low levels because with C&R we still have the "opportunity" to fish for them.

What we would be most comfortable supporting is management changes that result in "sustainable fisheries". In the case of steelhead, that most likely is a total overhaul of the methods used to determine escapement goals. If realistic escapement goals result in WSR (as it probably would in most cases) then so be it. But WSR by regulation is tougher. We will accept it as a last resort, but only begrudgingly.