Jerry,

Your approach suggests you don't really like to debate. You just like to argue.

The reason for the limited chinook fishery in the Green has nothing to do with a lack of harvestable hatchery chinook. It is about allocation (the non-treaty share being caught in the Pacific Ocean, the Straits, Puget Sound, and Elliot Bay) and the ESA. The MIT hold the trump card controlling the terminal area sport fishery. If you want more GR chinook allocated to freshwater harvest, you'll have to get into the North of Falcon Process and reduce saltwater interceptions so that more will be left for river fishing. You might find strong resistance from other interests who prefer to take their GR chinook while they are still in the salt, bright, and on the bite. Also, I think there is an ESA issue wherein the non-treaty ESA impacts have been mostly taken by the time the fish enter the Green, leaving few or no remaining for freshwater fishing.

The upshot is that it has nothing to do with your contention that it cannot support both treaty gillnetting and rod and reel sport fishing. Why am I not surprised.

OK, I just learned that GR steelhead haven't made escapement lately. They were doing so better than most PS runs, but have recently hit the skids as well. Again, the indication is PS wide that wild steelhead runs are presently limited by early marine survival, but as long as you can see a river gillnet any time of the year, even when wild steelhead are not presesnt, I don't expect you to believe it. As long as you rely on visceral knowledge, you have nothing to debate.

Now that you admit that allocation and conservation are one and the same issue to you, you betray your participation in these BB debates. It's just a forum for pointless arguing for you. Would you like to inform us how allocation and conservation are the same, or would such an attempt further betray your overall lack of understanding of what each concept means? All the harvestable fish can be allocated to one party with conservation being achieved by simply not harvesting into the escapement part of the population. A dead fish is a dead fish, no matter who or what gear type caught it. As long as escapement is met, it doesn't matter if all the catch occurred in saltwater or fresh, by hooks or by net. Your contention is beyond misunderstanding; it conveys ignorance.

You may be tired of sportsmen getting what's left, but what alternative is there if other sportsmen decide thru legal channels to take most of the non-treaty chinook in saltwater fisheries. Obviously you're only going to get the crumbs unless you can form a coalition interest that negotiates for a larger freshwater harvest allcation. Be tired of it all you want, but unless you're going to do something about it, you're just spewing verbal flatulence here.

Onemorecast,

At least you added the flame.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.