IMO enforcement is the best course of action. There are PLENTY of rippers that are very much into C&R. You know how many times I have seen a hen ripped off a nest then thrown back, only to be ripped back off again 10 minutes later wen the next guy wanders down. Especially in Orwell.  These fish end up croaking. Cutting socking will have an exponential effect on natural repo as there will be less fish to spawn because less fish will make it through the gauntlet.
Yes a speaker from Canada was at the SOL meeting last year ad there are issues there too.

Wow, i'll have to try and catch up tomorrow... but leave it to me to get the pot stirred!!! Lol :)

So I am tired. I made it to the meeting. As a person with no real ''stake'' in the lake and really listening with a nonbiased ear it was difficult to listen to many questions that were asked and answered multiple times, but not to the liking of the crowd. As  an outsider what was said made sense.    My livelihood does not depend on it and I know little to nothing about the lake so who am I to judge though.  There will be cuts, how much is undecided. There was no real new info given that was not given at the SOL.
Will post more tomorrow when I have ''digested '' what I heard.

Thanks Clint!

I will give it a try. First off it is NY and Ontario policy to keep Chinook the top of the food chain, they kept referring to a policy in place that pretty much makes it law (will add a bit more to that later)  As we know there is a bait problem with 2 and 3 yo alwives, during trawling these fish are virtually non existent.  The majority of bait for a Chinook is 4/5/6 year olds. This puts us at a bait issue for 17/18/19 as the old ones get eaten and die out there are no new ones to take their spot that are of size to feed Chinooks. Biggest issue is that the Chinook for those years are ALREADY IN THE LAKE.  So what's going to happen is going to happen. Not knowing what this winter and next will be they need to be proactive or it could get ugly. Stopping it from lasting years and years and the bait crashing is the basis of cutting. Like they said if they wanted to get rid of the Chinooks try would keep stocking and just let them eat all the bait and they would crash They are not afraid of a 'crash'' as the other lakes did,  because of a  the other lakes had a nutrient issue we do not have , we just have  bad winters.
This is installment one, I have to go to work.  Up next lake trout and other species as well as natural repo

Thanks Clint- VERY glad to hear its about the BAIT-even though there seems, as most suspected, a bleak near term outlook.
Seems those huge runs of a couple of years back followed by record icing have hit the bait hard for a while.

Thank you Clint .
Lake was flat didn't catch a fish today . Left glasses on boat so have to read another day . Great Lake adventure so far , AWESOME !!

Hope you start to hit them Rich-
Can you still fish the discharge at the 10 Mile or did that go with the terrorist security changes.
When I started in 82 we used to go there and wade out as far as we could from the plant parking lot.
(hoping NOT to step off the slate ledges)
heck -guys would row drift boats from around the point to get there.

I think it went bye, bye.  They will fire a warming shot though. We had no power last night so I will finish my thoughts tonight I hope. FWIW Rich the Canadian anglers at the meeting stated  fishing was the best in several years with boating sometimes 15-20 fish a day. I guess you need a bit more gas and time to get to them.  There were thoughts on that too...........

Here is part 2.  Yes Trev  a rep (the main guy rom Ontario ) from Canada has been at every meeting so far. They kept staying through and through that the charter signed between Ontario and NY states that Chinook is o predator for the lake and it is like a law.  At the end  they said that in a few months the scientists will make their report about what they think should be cut, in turn NY and Ontario's DEC will look at those numbers and make a decision. Here is the big IF , IF THE DESCISION IS LEFT UP TO THEM. Twice he alluded that there may be some sort of higher up that could over rule them......................
Keep in mind we will be missing the 4,5  and 6 year alwife in the next few years.
Lake trout and stockings.
 
LT can and will eat other things, they will eat Goby, plankton and other things. If the alwifes crash they will suffer , but make it through, just not grow as fast. They also do not get big fast like Chinooks. Takes 5 plus years for a LT to eat a Alwife that is 4-6 yo. So any lake trout that is stocked will not compete with salmon that are mature in the hard years to come. The competing fish, like the salmon are already in the lake. So cutting LT stocking may only hurt charters even more if the salmon keep declining.  Meaning would you rather have Less salmon and less LT or less salmon and at least LT to catch. If bad winters continue LT cuts will be looked at.
More browns in the unused tanks that raise Chinooks. Can't happen as it takes 6 months or so to raise salmon and over a year to raise browns, there also is not enough cold water from the res and they are maxed out at cooling water to raise any more. Extra money too.
Coho and steel can get away with eating the smaller Alwifes too so they will remain at par.
Natural repo numbers were questioned as captains and fish cleaners (Shane ) said the numbers they have seen do not support numbers reported by DEC for fin clipped fish. 
Why is the fishing better to the north and why do the fish just come up and run and not stage like in years past. Water temps, nutrients?? These were brought up. They think that these fish are evolving into their wn strain and losing the instincts of their Pacific ancestors. They are working on also mixing about 10% wild eggs into the gene pool to keep it fresh.
Any question shoot them I may have heard something else you want to know.