Todd...I didn't mean to imply that your group tried to disrupt anything..sorry if I did. Maybe dominate the testimony time would be more fair. I think you had 54 people lined up to talk and all of them said basically the same thing....release wild steelhead. Many others had one person make their case short and sweet. That saves alot of time and might get the point across better.

I guess my core point is this:

The tribes are allowed to harvest 50% of any run using estimates and the rest of us get the other 50%. That is the scenario. The 50% allocated to non tribal fishers is then divided up between commercial and sport under various formulas with sports usually getting less than half. If the sports sector is regulated to nonretention of wild fish then it seems the other sector should follow that rule. The problem is that when sportsfishers drop a percentage of fish via C&R the forgone opportunity seems to divert to the tribes. So you want to save wild steelhead by releasing them but then they are still fair game for the tribes. Saying that this is the best we can do because the tribes govern themselves is a cop out and should not be allowed to stand. If we must stop harvesting fish for true conservation then we should stop harvesting fish period with no strings attached that favor any group or other. C&R is considered part of harvesting because of the mortality percentages.

I agree that we sports fishers need to unite against the nets and not against each other. Wild steelhead have become an icon much more so than wild salmon and I think we need to look at the overall picture. This is a tough challenge and it is great that groups such as the WSC focus on one part of the problem as the big picture is too much for one small group to tackle. No matter what position you take or what cause you champion there will be many who will disagree and oppose you. That's ok with me so long as we keep up the fight. If we must get spit on by commercial fishermen so be it. Taking on the tribes is what this must come down to. No one wants to do that but stop them we must. They are the ones getting in the way of every good idea for conservation. They do some good I know but netting wild steelhead and salmon erases all the good in my book.

By the way alot of the really smart guys on this subject won't be heard in forums like this because they are afraid of alienating someone. Well alienating is inevitable in politics, religion and fish issues.