To address some of the above:

I trust the harvest numbers from the fisheries that I am responsible for managing because one of our jobs is to get the numbers. We work with the fishing community and the buyers. We have staff monitoring boats as the come in to sell. Of course there are some errors, but all in all the system is a good one.

Tribal fisheries, like non-tribal fisheries, are managed by a variety of quotas, seasons, etc. This has been the case for a long time for tribal and commercial fisheries, but recently as sport fisheries have been required to move away from just a season everywhere,there has been a lot of kicking and screaming. Where you see net fisheries managed for number of days per week throughout a season , it is likely that one of two things is happening. Either the quota has not been reached or the fishery is in some place like a hatchery terminal area where hatchery fish can be harvested with minimal impact on non-local fish. It is very important to understand that we closely monitor the impacts of even hatchery terminal fisheries on all stocks, and we account for those impacts in setting seasons.

"Tribal biologist" is shorthand for a biologist who works for a tribe. The tribes as comanagers employ scientific staff just as the state does. We work together with our counterparts at the state and federal levels to develop stock assessments, forecasts, inseason updates, and the many other tasks necessary to implement a fishery as complex as the one for Pacific salmon. It concerns me that people are so distrustful of the numbers and so forth, but I'm sure collectively that we all could do a better job of communicating the basis for salmon management. Suggestions would be welcome.

One thing is for certain regarding harvest numbers -- the decisions that will be made in our office today and tomorrow regarding next week's fisheries will be based on this week's catch numbers in the net fishery, among other things. One frustration we all have is that we cannot see catch estimates for most recreational fisheries until a year or so after the fact. In some cases, it would help to have those numbers much earlier. For example, maybe the poor returns some are reporting would e reflected in lower than average sport catch numbers, which we could use for inseason management if we had those numbers. I would also welcome suggestions on improving recreational catch reporting.

Finally, although we mainly manage by the numbers available to us, there is some room for considering non-quantified factors, such as what people say they are seeing in the Sky and elsewhere. I will get this information into the mix as inseason updates are discussed this week. in fact, that's why i lurk here anyway, to get a sense of what you all are seeing. So whether you know it or not, and whether you appreciate it or not, your observations and ruminations have already been incorporated into management. Face it, we are all in this together, and it to our mutual benefit to work together.