I support the passage of B.A.N. However, anyone who thinks this is the solution to our salmon problem is flat out wrong.

What it will do is remove one of the many problems that we face if we really want salmon recovery. While commercial netting does indeed kill salmon, and lots of them, so does agriculture, logging, water quality degradation, habitat destruction, etc., and though it's impossible to measure, I would bet my GL3's that those indirect methods of killing salmon and steelhead kill many times more fish than direct commercial harvest does.

We need to realize that fact, and not let a quick fix like B.A.N. lull us into thinking salmon are coming back.

Agriculture is on the block right now, and the farmers are blocking damn near every bill in the state legislature right now that would restrict the water use of a farmer, or bills that would require fencing cattle away from the river banks or would require planting buffer zones on rivers in cattle grazing areas. If they (the farmers) don't voluntarily take a hit now, the feds will stomp them flat when they have to step in.

Does everyone remember what happened to the timber industry when the state failed to do anything productive to protect the spotted owl? This can happen to farmers just as easily.

Keeping more water and higher quality water in our rivers is the most important step to save our salmon and steelhead. Efforts to protect the water will have to include even more changes in forest practices, farming practices, and Clean Water Act permitting. Like any other laws, these don't do anything without adequate enforcement, and that costs money, money that seems to come from a smaller pile each year. I think people would be amazed to see how much could be done with the enforcement of existing laws rather than with a whole bunch of new laws that won't be enforced either.

Protecting water quality will protect habitat at the same time, as the same activities that cause poor water quality, like development and resource exploitation, also cause severe habitat degradation. If forest practices are changed to protect the amount and quality of water, habitat will be protected, too.

B.A.N. addresses one aspect of salmon survival, and that's dying in a non-Indian net. It will not save salmon and steelhead. However, it will save more than not passing B.A.N., so long as everyone realizes that it is just a step towards recovery, not the be all end all. Agriculture and Industry would like nothing better than everyone pointing at commercial fishers and blaming it on them, while they go along merrily screwing up rivers and necessary upland habitat.

Support B.A.N., but keep on keepin' on.

Fish on...
Todd.