[quote=N W Panhandler]So enlighten us as to why suction dredging needs to be more restricted. I would like a local gold dredger to speak also.....

You gotta be kidding me....
I don't care if it's stream mining or in the salt. It is nothing more than rototilling the bottom. Look at Agate Pass. For hundreds of years, there were tens of thousands of cod spawning there. In the early 80's, the geoduck harvesters used hydrolics (fire hoses) to "mine" the clams. The habitat was scrubbed. By 1989, no more cod. You can't even catch one there if you tried.

Jet sleds are the same as suction harvest? I'd agree sleds can't be good, but I'd liken surface-based jet thrust more to flood-stage flows, than I would to suction harvest of a streambed. (No I don't have a sled). Most jet thrust doesn't dig 18" deep or cover solid areas of the stream.

Mining=rototilling. What good can come of it, except to those FEW that get the cash?