I love our orca whales, and I, too, am unhappy with their decline. What to do?

To start with, let us not be too hasty about tearing down the dams in our rivers. These dams have been there for years, providing everyone with power, irrigation water, transportation, recreation and fish. Our rivers still provide all of the above, except enough fish. Why?

Our governments have spent billions of our tax money cleaning and clearing little tributaries to our rivers, planting trees along these tributaries for shade to aid spawning and growing fish — a bit thank-you to the volunteers — replacing culverts, reclaiming salt water areas for the fish. Some hatcheries have been closed and a few new ones added.

So where are the fish?

Perhaps it is time to look at the pressure within our rivers. My suggestions would be: Add to the fish hatcheries and close all the rivers to everyone for fishing for five years, starting out a quarter of a mile from the mouth into the salt water. Does this suggestion sound crazy? Yes, it would make every fisherperson angry. You bet it would. Unless the over-fishing is curtailed the problem will never go away.

All of our water systems: wells, lakes, ponds, rivers and seas are under attack from people, sea lions, cormorants, other over-populated fish-eating birds, pollution and more. Our governments and the divisions within should stop the infighting and begin using some common sense before it will truly be too late.

Helen L. Mossington

Sedro-Woolley