They are very much entrenched in our culture. And the situation is complicated by Indian tribes and commercial fishermen that are dependent on hatchery fish. The science on the genetics is so new it's not understood or accepted even among fisheries biologists. If you cross a sacred cow with a military base in Washington State, you get a fish hatchery. Last summer, when he briefly closed sockeye salmon fishing around the San Juan Islands, he was unsuccessfully sued by 100 commercial fishermen for violation of their civil rights.
Sockeyes tend to swim on the surface, while chinooks run deep.
Their lobbyist, Ed Owens demanded in writing that the commission restrain him. But Shanks wouldn't shut up. You simply cannot look at the salmon crisis here in the Northwest and not be concerned about overharvest. We have met escapement goals for chinook for only two of the last twelve years. We need to take down some of the dams.