We are currently enjoying a decent run of Fall Chinook this season down on Elk/Sixes. Though no records will be broken in terms of total numbers, sport fishermen are doing better this year than perhaps in the past 5 or 6 years. While some attribute the better numbers to "improved ocean conditions," others feel the change is directly linked to a reduced commercial quota imposed this year in the terminal area at the mouth of the Elk River where the fish congregate just prior to their upriver migration. In recent years past, a commercial season has allowed commercial fishermen to kill up to 3000 of these Elk & Sixes bound fish. Some biologists have estimated the total number of returning adults to have declined to as few as 3000-5000 fish per system. Given those numbers, it's easy to understand why many folks have considered the 3000 fish commercial allotment to constitute blatant mismanagement, if not an outright sin. We applaud ODFW for altering the commecial harvest quota this year and trust better policies will continue and help protect future runs. Sport fishermen on the Elk & Sixes are also bound this year to very strict reductions in the potential harvest of wild Chinook. On Sixes River, a sport fishermen may only harvest 2 wild fish this year while a total of 5 wild keepers per year are permitted on the Elk. With stricter controls on both commercial and sport harvest levels, we should see good escapement numbers on both the Elk & Sixes to the benefit of all.