Seems the good things in life never last too long. Bob is right. The nets went back in at 7 pm tonight for 12 hours by emergency order, and they will fish thru tomorrow's regular 12 hour 7am-7pm opener. So at least 24 more hours... and most likely netting all thru the weekend since they already fulfilled their 48 hour net-free window for the week.

Seems the Kasilof return is continuing at a very strong pace. The maxed-out netting is being justified to prevent overescapement into the Kasilof River. Unfortunately, non-target Kasilof and Kenai kings suffer the most , with record numbers already intercepted by the nets so far... and many more before the season is over.

The irony of it all is that 100,000 fish (very good source... we shall see on the counts posted tomorrow) entered the Kasilof today, and that is seen by the commfish division as "failed management" because they will exceed the biologic escapement goal by season's end. The management is so one-sided that it is beyond belief.

The only saving grace for this whole situation is if the Kenai sockeye return falls flat on its face. They need to allow at least 750,000 reds into the Kenai.... if it looks like they are falling short, the netting WILL BE curtailed.

Situations like this will recur season after season until the non-selective gillnets are eliminated from the commercial fishery. Seines and traps make the most sense for the management of this mixed stock fishery. Commercial harvest MUST be conducted in a selective manner that ensures non-target stocks are captured alive and released unharmed! Until then, the incessant commfish/sportfish allocative battles will rage on.