Being the final source of mortality in the life history cycle of a fish, and the one that we have the most control over, fisheries generally determine whether or not replacement or escapement is achieved. So while fisheries may not be the primary source of mortality, they are often what determines the ultimate success of each year class.
AND THAT IS THE REALITY OF FISH MANAGEMENT!
Because modern-day use of the resource is furiously burning the critter's life history from both ends and everything in between,
everywhere the critter swims, the guys at the end of the line by default shoulder the greatest conservation burden.
Think about this….
By the time an adult salmon/steelhead reaches home waters, each one represents a substantial chunk of what's left of the total pre-harvest production. I think about the thousands of smolts, hundreds of subadults, and dozens of pre-spawn adults that already died to allow that ONE fish to make it back home. There's a HUGE investment in that ONE fish.
It's a big responsibility to ponder before wielding the ol' wood shampoo. Giving that fish a free pass is no small bit of conservation… while whacking it over the head could mean WAY more impact than anyone of us really wants to own up to.
The hard part is having to swallow that bitter pill of conservation when so many low-holers all the way to Alaska have already exploited the resource before you even had a chance. That sucks, and yes, I understand that.
Its pretty interesting that most folks are all for conservation…. as long as they get to keep fishing the way they've been accustomed and the conservation burden falls on someone else.
Nature of the beast when it comes to a publicly shared resource.
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