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The Chum issue is not about the desire to catch them but the desire for them to be protected so that they can do the things that they do to help the other species thrive.

Chum mass spawn in low gradient streams and rivers, they clean gravels and deposit a great deal of marine derived nutrients for the other salmon species to thrive on. Their own offspring will outmigrate at emergence from the gravel and move to the estuary, this means that they have little impact on what food is available for other salmon and steelhead that stay in the river for multiple years specifically Coho, Steelhead and Spring Chinook all species that have a very high demand by sport fishermen and the commercial market.

I hope that helps educate you about why we need to protect Chum it is not so we can catch more it is so that they can reach the gravel and spawn making things better for the whole basin.