As a ringleader for restoring and enhancing Baker River sockeye, I share Smalma's concerns. The attitudes in commercial fishing management are not keeping up with the changes to the status of our fishery resources. In the case of the Baker sockeye, mainstem gillnetting to the detriment of Skagit chinook (shouldn't be many steelhead kelts in late June and July when the sockeye run) is fundamentally stupid. The new adult fishway and trap being constructed by PSE on the Baker will make fish sorting, handling, and transport almost better than immaginable. No sockeye runsize forecast is needed. Surplus sockeye can be taken from the fish trap to satisfy the treaty fishery, without a single mortality to ESA listed chinook or steelhead. To not take advantage of the technology is either irresponsible harvest management, or simply caving in to out-dated and dangerous harvest demands (kinda' like LCR spring chinook gillnetting), or both.

Personally I hope the sockeye program is successful, altho I doubt the runsizes some folks are anticipating will actually be realized. A healthy sockeye population will facilitate healthier populations among the other species. Witness the number and size of Baker bull trout benefitting from improved sockeye numbers. More sockeye spawners will increase river and tributary productivity in the sub-basin, benefitting potential reintroductions of chinook and steelhead if those life histories are suited to today's environment.

Sg