Todd and Bob,

Thank you both for your calm(er) voices in a time of confusion and fear regarding a possible loss of our current fishing opportunities.

As Todd so eloquently put it (paraphrasing here), as sport fishermen we may have to take our lumps to help protect wild fish. But let me point out a possible long-term benefit from short-term pain. What IF after a decade or so, wild fish populations rebounded to the point that they number close to or as high as our current return of hatchery fish? Seems to me, there is a reduced sense of accomplishment we all feel when we take hatchery "brats." Wouldn't it be something if all the fish were natives, and in numbers high enough where the people who prefer to thump them could do so relatively guilt (and hassle) free? Seems like a win-win to me, and I can find lots of fishing opportunities over the next few years or more as we give our native stocks a chance to rebound.

So I say, kudos to Washington Trout for not accepting the status quo, stirring the pot and having the courage to do what is right. At some point, our wild fish have a right to more than just marginal survival, and we as sport fishermen should be SCREAMING at the state not to give us hatchery brats, but to pass legislation helping to pay for increased habitat restoration - the very REAL field work Washington Trout also undertakes. I feel many of you are very short-sighted in your take on this thing. I'm sure you will disagree.

Respectfully,

Back Eddy