I am oppossed to mandatory release of wild steelhead or salmon unless it is needed for conservation. When there is a conservation issue, all angling including catch and release should be shut down. If there is not a conservation issue, consider it an allocation decision between consumptive and non consumptive anglers and treat it as such.

Also, hatcheries damage wild steelhead, and when there is a conservation issue, hatchery releases should be terminated.

The whiners about consumptive harvest severely narrow the adovacy base for wild fish. Many people believe in harvesting fish for food. The majority of anglers want the option of keeping and eating their catch. Among the non angling public, again the majority of people believe in harvesting and eating fish be it sport, commercial or tribal. However, the general public is easily alienated by the idea of grown men deriving pleasure when exposing a fish to the trama of being hooked and landed only to be released. They would see these grown men pursue more humane outdoor activities such as golf.

Ulitmately, if the catch and release fanatics prevail, it will become a relatively small group unable to have the influence needed to protect and recover the steelhead resource and its habitat.