If the season turns out the way it did two years ago, (only a couple of fish caught in the first week of September and then none to the end of the season on September 15), the new rule will effectively mean no tyee season at all. We could change our name to the Non-Tyee Club. The city of Campbell River could change it's logo to the Non-Salmon Capital of the world. As an involuntary catch and release fishery, it will only take a single one of these magnificent fish released dead and floating up on the beach, wasted, for there to be a call to close the pool altogether. The club's voluntary catch and release proposal only allowed a tyee to be released, if and only if, the fish was judged to be in good enough condition that it would survive. Now, even dead fish or those highly unlikely to survive must be released (and wasted) under penalty of law. Are they nuts?
It seems likely that if none of the fish caught by the rowers are Fraser River fish that this would also be true along the whole Campbell River waterfront. This is consistent with what we were told last year that by July 15th, any Fraser River chinook passing Campbell River, had already done so.