Nice to see you go there Louie. That's awesome.

Personally I would love to see no gill netting, cowboy or Indian, anywhere in Washington State. My ability to impact or influence the treaty fisheries is zero.

Eliminating or drastically curtailing an established historical non treaty commercial fishery through legislation without respect to the financial impact on the families who have invested in boats, permits, and gear so you and I can catch more fish is irresponsible, callous and cold.

You also need to remember not to be a dick to politicians when working on a bill because the next session, when you need some support you might just not get it. Blake and Hatfield aren't going away soon.

Todd hit the nail on the head when he talked about perception when related to a bill being good or bad. Commercials think 1660 and its companion bill sucked. Lots of sports fishermen think it was the best bill ever. Others of us thought it was incomplete, like me.

Personally, I'd suggest buying back a few permits and bow pickers each year. This legislation would have driven down the value of the existing permits. It would have driven down the value of the boats these permit holders have, and it would have done the same to the value of their gear. It would also have an immediate impact on the family incomes of these fishermen and the businesses that market their fish. I would suggest you think about that in the next run. That would give the sportsmen something in return for their increased fees, don't you think?

Hope that helps.