Salmo g - If the WB commercial fishery is a "wipe-out" fishery why are both the recreational and commercial fishers required to release unclipped Chinook?
With substantial wild coho and chum returns with established escapement goals and a new found concern about wild Chinook (especially from the Naselle) wipe-out fisheries are not compatible with wild fish management even on Willapa Bay. Maybe that is part of the problem; continued feeding the commercial seasons/catches has to come at the expense of the recreational fishery or the wild fish.
Based on what I saw last week (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) the current commercial season structure has contributed to a substantial reduction in the recreational effort. The pressure I say last week was 1/4 to 1/3 of what I would have seen 4 or 5 years ago. The South Bend launch was never full (in past years there would be lots of trailers parking along the highway). On Labor launching shortly after daylight we were the 4th trail in the lot. On Tuesday at high tide slack (the traditional peak catch period) I counted only 28 boats between South Bend and to the point west of Tokeland.