don't forget that illegal netting took it's toll on these fish

the sport overharvest happened because there used to be no 5 fish yearly limit on native fish. the limit on the nisqually was originally 1 fish, but people complained and got it raised to 2 fish per day. also take into account the fishing and hunting lies. that's what got most of the people onto the river.

in about 3 years, the nisqually went from the top spring steelhead river in the state to nearly wiped out