The more I look into this the more confident I am in my position. Here are some statistics to consider:

The Washinton state population has doubled the past 30 years not tripled. It has about doubled every 30 years since 1910..1910-1940 .75 mil to 1.5 mil 1940-1970 1.5 mil to 3 mil 1970-2000 3 mil to 6 mil

I doubt we have twice the number of fishermen than in 1970. Out of 6 million people, only 150,000 residents buy saltwater licenses. Looking at that number, I would guess that there were probably just as many recreational saltwater fishermen in 1970!

These statistics are from the US Census and WDFW. BTW 400,000 resident freshwater licenses are sold and another 150,000 2 day non-resident licenses are sold.