I also sent the following to Mark Yuasa at the times to encourage him to follow up on this story.


Mark,
Thank you for publishing this article on the severe overfishing that has occured on winter chinook by the Makah tribe. Your article has drawn quite a bit of attention from several sportfishing bullentin boards that I participate in. It is an understatement to say that the sportfishing community is outraged by this blatant abuse of the resource. I would like to encourage you to follow up on this story with the answer to three important questions.

1. Jan 10, when the count was reported is three weeks ago. If the Makah are still fishing as implied in your article, what is the total catch now?

2. What are the consequences to the Makah tribe for this extreme overfishing? I believe their right to fish commercially should be terminated. Through Jan 10 they had caught their allocation of chinook for the next 39 years, assuming that it can safely stay at present levels.

3. How will the seasons for sportfishing and other commercial and tribal fisherman be affected?

Best Regards,
John Manthey
(sportfisherman and long term Seattle Times subscriber)