Hey Salmo g, after reading your post, a lightbulb just went on in my head.

Since the reigning fish czar(s) have deemed a 15% exploitation rate consistent with recovery... or at least preventing extinction.... any fishing method that had a true release mortaility of 15% or less would allow "handling" of 100% of the run.

Think about that folks...

Think of ALL the fishermen as one collective pot.... tribal, commercial, and sport. Now if somehow we could have every participant using a gear type with no more than 15% honest-to-God release mortality (not some made up tangle net BS), the ENTIRE runsize could theoretically be "handled" by the collective fleet and still meet the 15% ESA benchmark.

15% release mortality would mathematically give us all 100% access to every stinkin' hatchery fish in the run.

Put in those terms, it seems very do-able.

True, but with folks so wedded to some form of status quo, you realize you're dreamin', right?

Seems incredibly shortsighted to fight over the ever shrinking fish pie, when the only really logical answer it to make it bigger.

When the feds are spending recovery dollars to pay a bounty on Northern Pike Minnows, it might be time to reevaluate our master recovery plan.

what recovery program ??

Spill definitely makes the pie bigger.

Reclamation of unused habitat or restoration of degraded habitat also makes the pie bigger.

Harvest can only make the pie smaller. The ESA's harvest mandate of a 15% cap on exploitation just reigns in the harvest to an "acceptable" level that does not impede recovery. I believe what's deemed acceptable is still open to debate.

But regardless of how big the pie, the managers currently make sure the allowable impact is maximally consumed. At least for now, 15% will die no matter how big the pie gets.

In fact, if wild run-sizes ever do recover, becoming bigger and bigger over time, managers could only be expected to raise the exploitation rate higher and higher, eventually ratcheting it up to MSY levels as the end-game.

But regardless of how big the pie, the managers currently make sure the allowable impact is maximally consumed. At least for now, 15% will die no matter how big the pie gets.

Dr Rick,

You're catching on, but wrong on the intent toward wild springers. There is NO INTENT by the fish management agencies to allow more wild springers to escape to spawn. The 15% incidental take will occur by one fishery or another, no matter what else. While it may seem counter-intuitive to how an ESA listed species should be managed, you can none the less take that point to the bank, or more accurately, some part of the fishing fleet will take those wild springers to the fish box.

The only way to catch more hatchery fish without going over the 15% allowable incidental take is to fish more selectively with a lower incidental mortality rate. PERIOD.

A fish managment king or czar might simply cancel all the commercial, recreational, and treaty fisheries. Then simply build trap and sorting facilities at Bonneville Dam fish ladders and Willamette Falls. Separate the hatchery from the wild fish there and have all the interested parties come and pick up their "share" of the harvestable hatchery salmon. Very clean, the absolute lowest incidental mortality rate, the highest possible wild fish survival rate, keeps all the hatchery fish off the natural spawning beds, etc., etc. This is the alternative that is most consistent with wild salmon recovery, but you might guess it doesn't go over so well with anyone who likes to fish, or those who fish to make a profit.

Sg

Ban Medical Care! There's the problem, you guys have us living to long..

Hey Salmo g, after reading your post, a lightbulb just went on in my head.

Since the reigning fish czar(s) have deemed a 15% exploitation rate consistent with recovery... or at least preventing extinction.... any fishing method that had a true release mortaility of 15% or less would allow "handling" of 100% of the run.

Think about that folks...

Think of ALL the fishermen as one collective pot.... tribal, commercial, and sport. Now if somehow we could have every participant using a gear type with no more than 15% honest-to-God release mortality (not some made up tangle net BS), the ENTIRE runsize could theoretically be "handled" by the collective fleet and still meet the 15% ESA benchmark.

15% release mortality would mathematically give us all 100% access to every stinkin' hatchery fish in the run.

Put in those terms, it seems very do-able.

(19) The term ‘‘take’’ means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt,
shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage
in any such conduct.