Salmon as they once were

Here are a couple old photos that show how huge king salmon used to get compared to today's diminished catches. The culprit? 1. Dams on freshwater rivers that prevent the salmon from reaching their traditional spawning grounds; also, the heavy water releases from these dams too often wash their eggs out of the redds (nests). 2. Over fishing mostly in the ocean but also in the rivers. 3. The orca whale population in waters off the northwest and Alaska; orca love king salmon; and like voracious eaters everywhere, they always target the largest fish; further, studies have shown that the orca population in waters off Alaska has grown to the largest numbers recorded. So the chances of anyone fishing today are nil to catch salmon of these sizes. Darn. I'll have to settle for the 24" landlocked Atlantic salmon I caught a few years ago in the Swift River!