I saw this on WF BB written by Kent Lufkin and felt it was interesting post to share here:

"Two points: First, I couldn't agree more that like it or not, it often takes a lawsuit to get someone's attention.

The WFC suit wasn't some nefarious conspiracy to enrich the previously mentioned 'fat cat lawyers'. This suit was brought with the intention of forcing WDFW to do its job. This isn't the first time a lawsuit has been filed, nor will it be the last. Neither will WFC be the only group to file one. It takes the threat of appearing in court to force WDFW and other agencies to answer hard questions or to take action they'd rather avoid.

Second, it helps to understand WDFW's worldview. The department holds three things above all others: hatcheries; harvest; and license sales.

Like many other states, Washington drank the hatchery Kool Aid early and deep. WDFW is fully on board with the notion that hatcheries are the panacea to the problem of people killing more fish than are able to reproduce. Every fisherman should make a point of reading 'An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World' by Anders Halverson. It traces the history of fish hatcheries in glorious detail while discussing the problems with the fish they literally manufacture. Problems WDFW and their peers in other states would prefer not to acknowledge, like how hatchery fish impact the survival of natives.

Hatcheries cost a shitload of money to build and to operate. By committing to them as an ongoing enterprise, WDFW needs to continually justify their enormous expense, especially in these tight budget times. Promoting catch and kill fishing is the best way to do so. The more fish that are harvested, the more hatcheries need to crank out more fish to replace them, and in the process rationalize their cost and purpose. WDFW is NOT interested in promoting catch and release for the simple reason it flies in the face of its investment in hatcheries.

In these dark days of post-McCleary budget woes, WDFW desperately needs to sell fishing licenses and raise fees to replace money that it previously received from the general fund. That train has left the station, so in order to continue to fund hatcheries and indeed all other department operations, WDFW needs to sell licenses - a LOT of licenses. Hence the huge marketing push to promote fishing and to lure new and so-called lapsed anglers to the water with the promise of stringers full of fish - bigger fish. Guess where all those 'catchables' come from?

The WFC lawsuit serves as a well-placed broomstick handle in the spokes of WDFW's bicycle. Forcing them to acknowledge the Chambers Creek hatchery's role in the demise of wild fish and to live up to their existing obligations to mitigate damage caused by hatchery fish calls into question the role of hatcheries and everything connected with them. In essence, the very soul of the department.

WDFW's decision to not release a batch of hatchery fish is a shot over the bow of fishermen across the state, a calculated statement that the department believes there are more people who'd rather catch and kill a hatchery fish than see natives survive. By splitting sporting groups along that line, they likely figure the backlash by pro-hatchery fishers will pressure WFC into either withdrawing their suit or settling on a watered down compromise that WDFW can then proceed to ignore."