Capt. Q - That is a very good question and one well all (Kenai Anglers) must ask ourselvers. Why is a 14lb probably 15-20yr old fish held higher than a 70lb king? My guess is the main difference is one is a resident fish and one not. As you have probably seen over the last 15yr(especially the last 3-4 years) the mindset on the Kenai has been changing and more and more of the big hogs are being released, especially with the "Catch a Hog" program.
I struggle with the question every year, and I always get stuck going back to the commercial fisherman who are netting more kings than we are catching and like most of you, get angery. Why and I supposed to carry the burdon of conservation when the not allowing one or two EO's would save more fish than the entire guide fleet releasing fish. Right or wrong it is tough to swallow and yes I know once it is in the river it is past the nets. The truth is we are all fishing spawning fish, if it weren't for the angler all of those fish would spawn once they are in the river.
The bottom line is every year more and more fish are being released, it is up to the guide to educate the clients, and I find more and more of my clients are electing to release fish and are happy to kill a little 30lber if one at all.
And again, my original intent was one of ethics all of ours are different, someone killing a fish legally and me not liking it is okay, you not liking me not liking it is okay, I guess that is why we have these discussions. As in my previous post sportfishermen must be away of in fighting over ethics because in the bigger picture there are a lot of people out there that would not like to see us fish at all because of their "ethics".