Selective fisheries work where they work, and don't work where they don't...they are not automatically better than some other fishery.

If the catch is limited by ESA steelhead mortalities, and say the limit is 100 fish, then they will fish until 100 steelhead have died.

If the catch is limited by ESA Chinook mortalities, and say the limit is 100 fish, then they will fish until the 100 fish are killed.

If ten steelhead are killed when 100 Chinook are killed in gillnets, then ten steelhead will be killed when 100 Chinook are killed in purse seines, or in any other type of net.

If the catch is limited by ESA impacts, whether they be on ESA steelhead or ESA Chinook, then the only factor that will change when the mortality rate changes is how many hatchery fish are harvested while killing the allowable ESA impact.

It's just math.

For some reason folks continue to believe that if the non-tribal commercial guys catch 10,000 hatchery Chinook now, and they are forced to use a tool with a lower mortality rate, then they will catch 10,000 hatchery Chinook later, now with a lower bycatch mortality.

That's wrong.

They will kill the same amount of whatever limits the fishery, and the amount of hatchery fish will change.

Fish on...

Todd