I personally think nature has a LENGTHY history of doing a decent job of repairing things on it's own. It's pretty obvious the main culprit in any and all animal species decline has been the direct result of human intervention. No matter how much we blame one thing or the other whether that be the environment, predation (natural and human consumption) or habitat destruction all signs point to us humans.

One thing we also love to do is try to correct our past mistakes. We set up quota systems that don't make sense or rules governing when, where and who can fish and for what but all you get are reports of rampant violations and continuously declining numbers of fish. The major hurdle is our inability to see past dollar signs both in economical and political forms so no matter what we try to do, our best efforts to build up species numbers usually has the opposite effect. It seems to me that if we really cared about what's happening with our oceans and our species then perhaps we should stop doing EVERYTHING to the species. Specifically, harvesting by everyone.....

Now, I know everyone here is going to bash me for saying it but if we really cared about our future generations getting opportunities to harvest salmon then maybe we should have some sort of system in place to let the salmon do their thing unmolested by man. Maybe have a system where we humans can only harvest (commercial, tribal and recreational) once every other year or every two years. Something that allows nature to do what it does best....fix itself. But that'll never happen because we who "care about our oceans" cant see past the here and now.

Anyway, it's late. I don't like to think too much before bed. It'll give me wrinkles.