Here's some reasonable dialogue I recently had with a gillnetter:

GN- Even if 25% of the people in WA buy fishing licenses, why should they get more than 5% of the fish?

At the recent hearing, one of the netters testified, "We should all be working together on habitat; that's the real problem."
In the years that I worked on restoration projects, not one commercial fisherman ever showed up to support the effort. When I asked the team leader about their absence, he replied that they never show up. Of course, they want the "low hanging fruit" when the fish return. For me, the lowlight of the hearing occurred when a netter complained that he had to fish Columbia River bays where the fish were few, last season. This comment was made in front of an audience that was predominately sportsmen, who for their entire lives have fished behind Alaskan nets, Canadian nets, nets in the Straits, nets in Puget Sound, nets choking the bays and rivers, for the few scattered and scared fish that made it through the gauntlet...and this netter expects a sympathetic ear.

Another netter testified, "There are communities that want us and our money. We should just go there."
To that I would say, "Have a safe trip. You'll be missed about as much as the rotary dial telephone."