Jacob: In answer to your question, No. We di not have the heaavy netting pressure. We did have heavy bonking pressure from a population of anglers who were not previously impacting the resource. It all has to start SOMEWHERE.
If the local hard core steelheaders North of Duluth would have said" We aren't going to catch and release, because the Cityots are going to kill them" we would be standing on the banks of empty rivers. Lake Superior is a pretty unfriendly "biatch" when it comes to being fish friendly. The rivers dump down to pee trickles shortly after the fish spawn and the smolts become fodder for cormorants and mergansers. If they make it past them, they have a jillion hungry lake trout waiting for them in the lake.
By moving forward with your moratorium, I truly believe it puts you in the position to start focusing the attention on the senseless netting of your fish. How about trying the "Fish Ins" that seemed to get peoples attention for your salmon last year. Win, lose, or draw, you're doing the right thing for the fish. We do have sections of rivers that are closed to steelheading during spawning. Dead fish don't reproduce.
I hope that some day you can get your fish back to the levels where the guys who want to keep a fish to mount or eat have that alternative. In the meantime, I think WSR is a good option for people who want to share the sport of steelheading and have as little impact as possible.
We have learned a lot from you guys. I hope you can learn something from us before it is too damn late!
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The best way to be succesful in life is to keep the people who hate you away from the people who are undecided
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