FF - Good thoughts. Your argument points out the value of terminal fisheries in freshwater, as opposed to open ocean fisheries. When harvest occurs close to the natal stream, there is much better control over how many are harvested, and how many are allowed on the spawning grounds. Conversely, open ocean harvest results in taking fish that may be on the brink of extinction, but nobody will know since those fish cannot be identified by stock when they're in the ocean. Closing all ocean fisheries for salmon would solve this problem.

Whether that is a realistic outcome is a different question......