Marsha it looks like I need to dig out my lifeguard photo in my Speedo again...Parker is on the button. Some folks preach about not killing fish as if they are some sort of fishing God or something. At the end of the day those same guys kill some fish. Not the issue. The issue is protecting the ESA listed fish. We know gill nets don't do that. We know that there are forces very powerful that support gill netting and will support it until the day there is only one net left. The legislature is all about jobs and gill netting supports jobs..Cry all you want about how much money sports fishing brings in compared to commercial fishing but not many are listening. The powerful legislators pull the strings and that is the sad fact of why we have so much of a challenge getting what we want. Unless or until the sports fishing community gets a working relationship with some key legislators we will have a tough time.

The new commissioners could have come out of their bunkers a long time ago but political pressure has kept them quiet. Why Connie came out strong finally is still a mystery to me. He and Ken have known what they should do for conservation from day one. I guess they don't want to risk getting railroaded off the commission. Hopefully Mr. Mahnken will not suffer any reprisals for doing the right thing.

Looks like the "secret meeting" was an over reaction again. Koenings did have a private meeting with commercial interests at his own home once so I guess assuming the worst is understandable. There are lots of meetings being held behind closed doors without publicity which is the way it works in Olympia.