We should admit it from the outset; "harvesting" kills fish. Commercial and recreational fishermen kill fish. Anglers practicing catch-and-release kill some percentage of the fish they handle. TU members know this; they support tough limits to protect wild salmon. TU is working to make the Pacific Salmon Treaty between the U.S. and Canada more protective for salmon and steelhead and their habitat.
But there is another side to harvest, particularly for wild Pacific salmon. The market for wild salmon and allure of angling for salmon and steelhead provide great incentives to protect and restore salmon habitat – and turn salmon fishermen, both commercial and recreational, into wild salmon advocates.
Each female salmon carries up to 2000 eggs in her final journey home. If those of us who fish for salmon work together to protect her home waters, we truly can look forward to a future with self-sustaining, strong and healthy populations of wild Pacific salmon and steelhead.
Jeff Curtis
Pacific Salmon Director
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose.
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