Grandpa,

You're probably thinking about the old Initiative 77 (I think that was the name, maybe it was 66 or something) line. Anyway, no non-treaty purse seining was allowed south of that line during the summer season. Gillnetting was allowed, at least in the fall coho and chum fishing season. The upshot is that WDFW (formerly WDF) had that rescinded by the Legislature after U.S. v. Washington made it obsolete.

I'll stand by my contention that seining and gillnetting were commonly practiced in Puget Sound north of the Initiative XX line. I used to know guys who fished on gillnetters and purse seine boats in the Sound in the 30s and 40s. I've got a book about fishing around somewhere with photos of seining and gillnetting on the Columbia River in the early 20th century.

Further, beware what you wish for in consideration of the law of unintended consequences. Some people think that pushing net fishing further out in the ocean will somehow result in greater salmon and steelhead returns to rivers. Don't count on it. The technology exists to deplete fish resources regardless of where the fishing actually occurs. The closer to a terminal area that fishing occurs, the more precise the potential management is. After all, it's the number of fish harvested from any given population that counts, not where they are harvested. You control harvest by limiting fishing time, gear, and area, and most of all - by allocation. Absent a harvest allocation, people are smart enough to get around all other restrictions to the point of overfishing.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.