The reason for the change is simple as I stated a few posts ago...The commercials want to harvest what appears to be a big surplus of Chinook....rmember that the fish out there are "mixed stock" no one specific origin at any one time. Anyway a deal was struck to "trade" the kings for more opportunity to harvest Coho for the sports fishery. By allowing the retention of all Coho the quota is also lowered so the original escapement goals are still met.

I think what should be stressed is that the 60-80% mortality figures being advanced here are not based on any scientific info I have ever seen but appear to be a slightly biased gut feeling.

There has been a similar effort up near Neah Bay to try to get the tribes up there to give up some of their Coho so we can extend sports fishing in the area mostly for Chinook. The whole game of allocations is about realigning the available pie and not making a bigger pie.

By the way the charters need to use a long net to reach their fish and I just this past weekend watched them hold the fish in the water while the fin was located..if wild it was lifted carefully and lowered back into the water . If hatchery no special treatment needed. In my case I use a custom made release stick...we have one on each side of the boat....fish stays in the water and the barbless single hook is easily removed . Some of the Coho still experience stress from a battle but swim away. If we could keep all fish , hatchery or wild, we would still be releasing undersized fish.