MC,

You disagree with me that non-reporting of catch among non-treaty fishermen is about equal to that of treaty fishermen. That's fine. We don't have to agree, and neither of us can prove our point. My opinion is based on my personal acquaintance with numerous treaty, non-treaty commercial, and recreational anglers over many years, and the prevalence of not reporting one's catch is significant and spread roughly equally among all types. Of course not all fishermen catch the same number of fish, but in the case of the net fisheries, it is usually the smaller catches that go unreported, mainly because of the difficulty associated with selling a large catch off the books. Of course, there are exceptions, and when they're uncovered - often a sting operation - it's all over the news.

This proposed action isn't intended to save wild fish, altho it could be used to that effect. It is intended to transfer catch from treaty commercial net catch to recreational hook and line catch. If it were coupled with a wild fish C&R regulation, then it would increase wild fish escapement as well.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.