RT While I understand where you are coming from and agree there needs to not be any nets in the Columbia. I have to say the hell with the sport fishery for spring chinook. The wild winter steelhead being killed is a billion times more important than maintaining enough hatchery chinook for a sport fishery.
The lower Columbia winter steelhead is the most endangered stock of steelhead in Washington State. The only place they exsist in anything resembeling healthy numbers is the Sandy. In all the Washington tribs these fish number in the very low hundreds. The Washougal for instance gets in an exceptional year 300 fish. Most years is less than 200. So to hell with the spring chinook fishery. if they have to move the commercial season later to avoid wild late winter steelhead I am all for that regardless of the impacts on the hatchery chinook fishery, which will likely not be taking place next year anyway.
I agree there shouldn't be commercial nets in the Columbia but until the day that that is reality I say save the wild steelhead... We can go around and around on this but the main thing is that this fishery not take place next year.