I think the buyout deal is a cop out but probably has to be done. Retire the licenses and no more are issued to take their place.

To me this is a paradox. The commercial fishermen are both arsonist and fireman. They create the crisis by overfishing and become sympathetic heroes for going broke after they have depleted the stocks so bad they can no longer make a living. So we let them start the fire then we give them a big reward for putting it out. Kind of a joke if you think about it.

Why not give WDFW some of the 49 million and let them close the seasons to all netting? They get the best of both worlds.