Aestrolab

Your environmental awareness and the actions you commit to are admirable, but I don't agree with your apparent point. Just because you recycle does not make up for bonking a nate for the table. I'm sure you score higher on the environmental score sheet than most people, but we're not talking about the environment as a whole; we're talking about the catch and release of native steelhead. Its a complex issue that you seem to have whittled down to: a)its legal on some streams during some periods, so I'm gonna do it, and b)I'm an environmentally proactive person, so I deserve to do it.

Whether this State goes C&R isn't an ethical issue or a moral issue or a trophy fish issue. Its a decision that may have substantial effects on whether a species of wild fish will survive in this State. Sure there are disagreements regarding whether C&R would be necessary to ensure the fish's survival, but what is not in doubt is the state of the science. Our resouce agencies have neither the data, financial resources to collect the data, or enforcement resources to enforce harvest rules, to properly manage wild steelhead runs. Given the lack of information, and the fact that State-wide C&R works in Oregon and Canada (and Idaho?),it appears to be a worthy policy option for this state.

You mention the dead or alive discard of by-catch by commericials. Again, whats your point? Incidental catch by commercial fisheries is unfortunate, and management strategies need to address it. One more thing, the 'hundreds of thousands' you mention may include all salmonids from the entire north Pacific Ocean, but not northwest steelhead. At that rate of by-catch, there would be no steelhead left.

Let me provide you with a relevant side-line. I recently read of Canadian research results on steelhead populations on several remote streams on Vancouver Island. These streams receive little fishing pressure (and are C&R anyway), but because of poor ocean survival conditions during the 90s, ocean survival has decreased from 12 percent to 2 percent. Scientists state that an ocean survival rate of 3.5 percent is necessary for the run to sustain itself.

These are streams with no C&K fisheries, no hatchery fisheries, and virtually no urban or agricultural development or logging to muck up the streams, and yet survival is falling to unsustainable levels during some years. The poor ocean conditions may be a natural oecanographic cycle, but may also be influenced by greenhouse gases, its really not known. Should we all take metro...sure, every little thing will help. But taking the bus to work doesn't provide me the right to bonk a nate in overfished, over developed Washington streams at their present population levels.