Bob -
Gibbons pointed out that the mandated MSY management can and has been modified with co-manager agreement. When that has occurred those wild populations have not faired much better than those managed "incorrectly".

While it is fashionable to blame mis-management by the State for the current sad state of affairs of some of our steelhead populations that arguement doesn't really pass the red-face test.

How do you explain the crash of all the East side of Vancouver Island winter populations? They have been managed "correctly" for nearly 2 decades with wild steelhead release requirements yet wild escapements have crashed as drastically as those in Puget Sound.

Why haven't populations on the Nisqually and Cedar rebounded even slightly in the last decade? They have been managed even more conservatively with closed fishing and have no hatchery fish planted. The status of those populations remain in even worse shape than those other populations managed under MSY.

Why has escapements in the late 1990s on the North Fork Stillaguamish and Snohomish basins that were above MSY levels (125% in the case of the Stilli and 110% for the Snohomish) produced runs of half or less of the parent escapements?

Why has the return rates on hatchery winter steelhead and wild winter steelhead in the Puget Sound area both dropped of the face of the earth with return rates just a fraction of those a 10 and 20 years ago?

Why is wild salmon management under MSY OK and not for steelhead?

If your beef is that you prefer a different fishery than that produced under MSY management then lobby for those opportunities; at least with the non-treaty share. That is a fair position. In fact that is exactly what has happen on the Quilleyute - recent escapements in spite of all the teeth gnashing about wild kill have been 150% of the agreed to escapement goal.

It would be fair to blame current management for not being as responsive as many would like to changing conditions. Managers are typically a year late in adjusting to poorer or increased survival conditions. It would also be a fair criticism to say that management imprecision often results in escapements other than those targeted. However I see little validity in the arguement that MSY management is the major cause of the recent lost in the productive of various stocks.

Tight lines
Smalma