Seems like the only thing a few people here are concerned about is how many damn fish they can catch. We just had one of the best Spring Seasons on record with low impact rates.

Right now the Steelhead are going thru in record numbers. I have personally released more wild fish than ever but guess what? They are marked and cut from passing thru the walls of death. And all we hear is "Whahh I'm not going to get to catch as many fish as I did before." Thats right! Leave the nets in and kill undetermined numbers of wild fish and Steelhead. As long as you have those hatchery fish who cares?

All a few can think of is how many hatchery fish the commercials will be killing with 0 to 1 percent impact rates on wild fish.

Do they really believe the Departments are going to shut the sports off when they are the major source of funding? Read the Statutes before making statements that the commercials will get "all" or even the majority of the fish. Right now neither one of the groups can even begin to harvest all the hatchery fish.

As long as I can remember the sports have been pissed about the gillnets and trying to get them off the river. Why some here even suggested harvesting at the ladders! Talk about no impact rates! Golly do you think they would get all the fish in that scenario?

The Tribes are already under pressure from the Colvilles to consider low impact gear. The only reason they use gillnets is because the lower river kill netters use them. We taught them well!

Bottom line is the nets are killing wild fish in undocumented numbers. Each year scientists come up with new figures and managers try to justify the ancient, antiquated, indiscriminate gear. Wake up! It's not only killing hatchery fish! Its killing wild Salmon and Steelhead or injuring them so badly they can't spawn even when they do reach their destination. No one at the hearings want to talk about drop out rates, or even how many fish get tossed over the side and never recorded under cover of darkness.

Do you think Russia banned the use of gillnets so the commercials could get more fish?

Ghost nets are just another part of the equation. don't need to go into that. Anyone who can read knows what they do.

Selective fishing with tanglenets (gillnets to Steelhead) is a joke! But no one is laughing.