Yes 4Salt it surely is about the law and upon rereading the Washington Trout news release it is also all about SHUTTING DOWN 100% COMPLETELY ALL HATCHERY CHINOOK PRODUCTION IN PUGET SOUND!
Thank you not Washington Trout! If all of WTs demands are enacted then good bye recreational fishing for chinook in Puget Sound as there are not and won't be enough naturally produced chinook to allow a tenth of the current recreational effort let alone any increases and this includes catch and release people. You ESA experts can twist the numbers any way you want but the truth is thats what will be the result. You all know that there is a certain amount of incidental "take" or more plainly "kill" allowed under 4d that is apportioned to many activities including even CNR fisheries for chinook or for that matter any fishery where listed chinook may be encountered. With zero hatchery chinook the truth is quite naked...zero chinook fishery including blackmouth. Quite possibly other fisheries may also be restricted further or even closed down due to this action. So lets hear it from the ESA experts... please tell us the whole truth? I for one would love to hear it. I suggest everyone read that press release closely and several times.