GEE.... who'da'thunk it?

Once upon a time a REALLY smart guy said this about LCR gillnets...

" That fishery has become an anachronism that is inconsistent with conservation. It is also a non-treaty, non-Indian fleet, so racism is not an issue. And, importantly, there exists a reasonable solution that is consistent with conservation.

The LCR gillnet fishery kills steelhead and wild spring Chinook when hatchery spring Chinook are available for harvest. It takes a mix of hatchery and wild summer Chinook, and then in the fall it takes ESA listed tule fall Chinook while trying to harvest abundant upriver bright Chinook and hatchery tule fall Chinook.

The reasonable alternative is fish traps. But not the little one like the one being tested by the Wild Salmonid Conservancy down by Cathlamet. Large fish traps that could trap, sort, and separate by species and hatchery/wild status could be readily retrofitted at fish ladders at Willamette Falls, Bonneville and the Dalles Dams, Barrier Dam on the Cowlitz, and Merwin Dam on the Lewis River. Such traps would allow the sustainable harvest of hatchery origin salmon while safely releasing wild salmon"

Well said . Too bad we have no forward thinkers in positions of power.

I still believe the take of B-run steelhead was under reported, mainly due to the smaller size fishes.

I figured that the first year without a gill net season on the lower Columbia would be the same year they declared CR spring Chinook extinct.

And whoa I recovered my freakin password. Maybe I'll get back into writing again.

VHawk

I believe the reduction in the most harmful, least sustainable method of
the commercial harvest was in order.

That would be the marine mixed stock......