That may not be the exact scenario, but you definitely get the gist of it.

The paper fish are traded on the allocation table across a variety of stocks and international borders for the benefit of the fat cats... the tonnage dudes.

But it's REAL fish and REAL livelihoods at the local level that are at stake here.

As Rivrguy posted, this harvest model is unsustainable.

The overall health of Pacific salmon is only as good as the health of its component subpopulations. That means individual runs of fish and the basins where they are actually produced. In the present day mixed-stock harvest paradigm, in order to maximally harvest strong stocks, unsustainable exploitation rates are simultaneously perpetrated on weaker stocks. The killing continues until the weakest stocks are fished to extirpation or near-extirpation, at which point managers just throw their hands up and concede that the remnant populations are now inconsequential to total production, so f**k 'em. No way we'll ever get 'em recovered, so let's just do the absolute bare minimum to slow the extinction curve to keep harvest going to the maximum extent possible.

The only logical solution is local (terminal) fisheries with 100% local control of production and exploitation. This ensures that stewardship, conservation, and accountability for the success or failure of the fishery rests entirely on local stakeholders. Bottom line, they OWN it!

Just like in every other aspect of life, this crisis will never be solved until folks are made to personally OWN it. AK and BC could care less about PNW salmon because they don't "own" our crisis.... they can just go their merry way doing business as usual as long as salmon (regardless of origin) are available to fill their totes.

Time for our representatives at the Pacific Salmon Commission to roll up their sleeves and start advocating for the home team.