Leave waters alone to replenish fish

First, I would like to thank The Herald for its four-part series pertaining to our declining salmon runs and how it is affecting the fishing industry.

In reference to your Tuesday headline, “No profit in empty nets/After a day’s work, 5 fishermen split just $79”:

It seems to me that common sense should prevail. The only way to get back to (excuse the bad pun) net profit is to pull up the nets and leave the waters alone to replenish the fish. If it takes five or six years to accomplish this, so be it.

To hear the fishermen saying that this is our livelihood is ridiculous, if the catch has dwindled to empty nets. Then what kind of livelihood is that? Remember that Anacortes was once known as the salmon capital of the world, but again our greed for the constant take has killed the industry.

Now we are being informed that Everett’s once vibrant fishing industry has shrunk to just a few boats. Once again I think we need to see our way to replenishment by giving nature a fair chance to survive. The answer to that speaks for itself.

DEE EVANS

Everett