Perhaps, but that mantra is beginning to ring hollow. You have to go all the way back to the disastrous 1999 run to find the sorts of Bonneville numbers that we are seeing this year.

Late? Maybe. C____y forecast? Maybe. Marine mammal predation? Maybe. All the above? Probably.

Bottom line is that if the managers think the number of salmon getting upriver is going to be too low, they will shut down the fishery. That is the only factor they have direct control over.