NADO hit it right on the head really.
it is not about our personal enjoyment or the economy and more to do with the environment. its all about them Atlantics. like said, read between the lines.
its still a great fishery though. i fish the river almost every day. the salmon come in thick after a rain and the steel-heading is consistent all winter long. theres even the fabled credit river smallmouth in the summer. no doubt about any of that. but to say the runs haven't drastically declined from years ago. sure doesnt seem that way to me and i'm keeping in mind that other rivers i frequent do not have the same kind of diminished runs despite having more pressure and worse environments.
the rapidly urbanizing areas that most of the credits tribs lie on feed increasingly warmer waters every year. thats whats really stopping the Atlantics from becoming a healthy reality in the credit more then anything else. theres just not a lot of good real-estate for spawning left and every year its getting worse.
seems they've taken the stance of removing competitor species instead, to free up the available spawning waters for more favorable species
if they had the right answers, the problem would be solved already. its still very much a work in progress
its kind of like dumping your girlfriend hoping that your hotter ex will come back
jokes aside, i just hope that the choices made dont remove one species to get no returns on another.
im in belief that that all species can co-exist relatively well given more water access and more active management.