Considering the ramifications of the Commissions decision I believe it would be in everyone's best interest if the moratorium were rescinded and reconsidered through a public and legal process.

I hope that the WSC, FFF and Trout Unlimited will encourage the Commission to do just that. After all it is also in their best interest to see that any moratorium that is imposed is in accordance with the will of people it affects.

I personally believe that a blanket moratorium is not a good management practice. It sets a dangerous precedent for a continuing trend of lost fishing opportunity in areas where closures are not consistent with good management policy in the name of protecting another area where closures might be a good idea.

I also want to harvest wild steelhead from stocks strong enough to withstand harvest. I like eating steelhead and most of those I have eaten in the past have been of wild origin because the bulk of the fish in the Skagit where I fish are wild.

In times of low production like what we have been seeing in Puget Sound rivers, fishing closures specific to those areas makes better sense to me. By selectively managing each river system more specific management goals can be applied.

But whatever I believe is the right approach to blanket policies or whatever someone else believes, a rule that is formulated in accordance with legal procedures and with the input of all interested parties is a rule likely to be embraced by everyone.

The C&R zealots have been dividing the community for far too long and now is their chance to help reunite that community and, if they are right about the need for a C&R policy statewide, to get that policy mandated through an open, legal and public process.

For these reasons I ask everyone to support the petition. This is our chance to do what is right for the fishermen and what is right for the fish.