For the record, CFM and Salmo g are in total agreement on an issue!! . Perhaps it's not the first time but it's worth mentioning nonetheless.

You guys make good points and it's hard to disagree with the fact that the price of commerically caught salmon is being undercut by market forces beyond the control of the producers. Your assessment that commerical fishing is a dying occupation is also probably correct. Implementing the proposal as outlined by CFM will hasten their dimise.

Sorta like buggy whip makers, commerical fishermen may be on course for extinction due to the competitive forces of the marketplace. But to me, that's the way our society should operate. Their economic future is tied to their success in marketing their product. If the market for their product collapses, they need to make adjustments. Either find another market, change your product, or go out of business. That's the American way. I'm not sure that society should provide commerical fishermen with an added push into the economic graveyard, even though that's where they're headed (sooner or later). If they can't compete, the marketplace will resolve the issue. Even commerical fishermen will agree with that.

But if they go, their passing will signify the end of a long tradition on the Columbia River and I, for one, will miss their prescence.