Stlhdr1,

Obviously chinook migrate throughout the north Pacific during the saltwater phase of their life cycle, so I guess it would be safe to assume that your college courses did indeed pay off. I was referring specifically to Columbia river spring chinook on the final leg of their spawning journey. It is my understanding that they, as well as the fall chinook, follow the coastline to the mouth of the Columbia river. In order for the trawlers to target these particular fish, they would have to fish much closer than the 200 mile limit. Like Mike Gilchrist pointed out above, what are the odds that this trawler fleet knows the EXACT migration route, and is able to specifically target Columba river springers without the Coast Guard being aware of these activities. I have no doubt that salmon are targeted in illegal high seas trawl fisheries. I was adressing the theory that they were able to significantly impact this years springer return.