I think we can all agree that, in principle, selective commercial fishing is better for the future of wild fish than gill-netting. Granted, this plan has potential to negatively impact sport fishing, and it is reasonable to assume it will not immediately help wild fish populations. That said, we should be careful not to lose sight of the fact that a permanent change to this type of fishing would get those hated, non-discriminating instruments of mass destruction out of the river.

If this does turn out to be the crushing blow to sport fishing opportunity many expect it will be, sport fishers should have a legitimate beef to take up with the Legislature so that something can be done to correct the imbalance. I don't have a lot of faith in our Legislators' inclination to act in any interest other than their own, which is why I believe it will be important for us to be organized. Unless they believe their re-election depends on it, they are not likely to veer far from the status quo, so we will need to show up in numbers. If that's not enough, we could resort to playing the game the commercials have apparently been playing for decades by putting money where our mouths have been. If our license fees truly do add up to a large amount more than those paid by commercials, simply not purchasing licenses one year would make a loud statement that could not be ignored. If the Legislature still chose to ignore us, we could pool the money we would have spent on licenses, hire a lobbyist, and make a few strategic "campaign contributions." That's the American way, right?

Believe it or not, as naive as it may seem, I am actually fairly serious about this. If we can't beat the system, we might do well to make it our ally. I'm sure there are other reasons why this would not work, but I'm pretty sure the biggest reason is that we sport fishers choose, time and time again, to get hung up on our differences of opinion rather than finding our common ground and standing united. Whether you're a member of CCA, WSC, Long Live the Kings, etc. or choose not to associate with any of the groups out there advocating for wild fish because you don't agree with every stand they take, if you like to fish for salmon, steelhead, and/or sturgeon, this should be a cause you can believe in. If we all stood together on the things we agree on (one at a time, if that is the best pace we can muster), I believe we could rapidly turn this in our favor.