I'm going to think about this for a bit. This is one of those ideas that COULD actually happen, via the initiative process. And probably pretty easily. The question is, and I do NOT profess to know the answer, would we be happy ten years after it happened. While the steelhead is no longer pursued commerically, I note that the salmon runs, which are, are more abundant in the Columbia.

There is a paradox in recreational fisheries, which is that fisheries that are well known, get well supported. I do not know what happens as we allocate scarce dollars in the years to come, what will happen to fisheries that lose commerical fishing lobbying support.

Another possible consequence is that, if we quit dividing our hatchery management effort between a food fish (slamon) and a sport fish (steelhead), hatachery managers might have one distortion removed form their life. I am indifferent between catching steelhead and silver salmon. One may be easier than the other to provide. In a rational system, we would focus on providing more of the easier fish to provide.

Lest anyone get wrapped around the axle about my declaring silvers to be the same as steelhead, it's just a statement made for purposes of illustration.