Limited habitat, not harvest, is the issue.

Harvest management in Washington is already biased towards protecting weak stocks, the only fish that are legally caught, by anglers or commercial fishermen, are from strong (typically hatchery) runs. The real problem behind salmon recovery now isn't harvest, but habitat.

Even the Dungeness River, which above was offered as a near pristine OP stream, is absolutely screwed compared to what it had been. That river is almost totally diked in its lower end, and is not allowed to meander in any way. There are no trees to speak of in the river, compared to historic numbers and until a few years ago, it was also irrigated to the point of almost being dry to chinook spawning.

On the Dungeness, salmon are screwed not because of over harvest, but habitat concerns. Except for the strong hatchery coho run on the River, there hasn't sport or commercial harvest on chinook or pink for over 20 years. But, in the same 20 years the human population in the Dungeness Valley has exploded, putting more and more pollution and habitat pressures on fish.