I would not say Herschel was the reason the native run declined. I will say it was the Herschel episode (lasting over a a couple of years) that put the spot light on the Cedar. Fisherman yelled that the Sea Lions were killing the Steelhead and ruining the Cedar River population. Remember we had nightly news coverage showing the slotter, it was even shown on national news. In came the environmentalist that said it was polution, forest removal, damming and of course habitat loss which was the real cause, not an innocent California Sea Lion. In either case, with all the news coverage, the Cedar was closed to ALL fishing.

As far as what is the cause to the Native Steelhead decline -- I don't know, I've seen no data to indicate how the river doing. As far as I know, their's fish stacking up right now in my old holes. Chance are, theirs at least a couple.