Smalma,

We both know that fishing the Skagit in May for sockeye isn't really fishing for sockeye. There are statistically zero sockeye in the Skagit in May. I understand and agree there are steelhead kelts in the river in June, especially the first half. I never found many, or what I would consider significant numbers in late June or July, which is not to say there are none.

A fishery honestly targeting sockeye wouldn't begin until the last week of June at the very earliest. Since the Skagit Tribes did an extensive spring chinook tagging study that I remember pretty well, they know quite well that a mainstem sockeye fishery in late June and all of July will take spring and summer chinook at much higher than incidental levels. Prosecuting a mainstem gillnet fishery during that time period with ESA listed chinook in the river is irresponsible, and especially so when the Baker trap already is, and certainly the new one will be a completely selective fishing alternative.

There is precedence. The Tribes have taken sockeye from the Baker trap for more than a decade when the run was abundant and distributed them to the respective reservations for ceremonial and subsistence use. I couldn't think of a better way to manage that fishery.

Slab,

No, we can't stop the nets. The tribes can, should they choose to harvest selectively, conserving ESA listed chinook and steelhead, while harvesting sockeye when they are abundant. The tribes may strive to make a case that their gillnet fishery is selective. Negative publicity that that isn't the case couldn't hurt. The Skagit Tribes have done many good things for salmon and steelhead, but that doesn't mean they should get a pass when they make choices that have adverse results for those same fish.

Sg