Do you guys honestly think a fish cares how it dies? A dead fish is a dead fish is a dead fish.

We may value a fish from one stream more than a fish from another, but it doesn't matter to the fish.

It doesn't matter wether its killed on the open ocean by a comercial troller, by a gillnetter in the straights, by a moocher in the bay or by hooking mortality from a catch and release flyfisherman in the river. Its a dead fish that didn't get to spawn.

I think selective fisheries are the hot thing right now, but whether they will help depleted runs or not remains to be seen.

And you guys that think gillnets can't be selective, when do think was the last time the Muckleshoots caught an endangered stilly king gillnetting the green river? How many of us that fish blackmouth all winter can say that?

One thing that is clear is that the commerial and tribal guys are very good at catching their allotments. If you want them to catch less fish, then their allotments need to be decreased. Restricting their methods by eliminating gillnets, etc will not significantly decrease the number of fish they catch. They'll just switch methods.

My gripe about gillnets is that it selects for small fish. My gripe against commerial trollers is that they select against the aggressive bighters. I'm all for the more traditional set gear. Those are the ultimate in selectivity. Bring back the fish traps and wheels and reef nets.

My $0.02