I live in Washington, near some of the best fishing in the world (the mid and upper Cowlitz River, the mouth of the Toutle, the Green, the Columbia, etc.) Anyway...
My guess as to why they closed fishing is that it is a "commuter sport." You go where the fish are. Everybody goes to where the fish are. People come to my county from all over Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. They stop at restaurants, gas stations, the local WalMart, motels, and campgrounds. And when they fish, they stand in combat lines about 4 feet from each other.
Given that the virus is so easily spread (living even 2 days on a piece of paper) and that it can be spread by people NOT showing symptoms, the trick in beating it is to contain it. You simply have to NOT spread it; then you just wait it out and let it run its course in the people that have it. On paper it's pretty easy. Now, back to fishing and fishermen...
I used to be a fishing addict. I would combat fish at Blue Creek and run my Wooldridge sled up and down the Cowlitz every weekend. The vast majority of fishermen are pretty rough and tumble--they're gonna do what they want. They ARE NOT going to assist in containing the COVID-19 virus. Berate me all you want, but it ain't gonna happen. So people who come from all over are going to interact, share the virus, and then some poor schlubs are going to take it back to wherever they came from, and SHAZAM...new outbreaks--which means the containment procedures have to start all over, just in a new area. At that rate, it will never be contained.
People not helping curb the spread of the virus is the major problem right now. Banning fishing is just one more attempt to stop spreading it. Do I like fishing being banned? NO! Heck no! But...I can give it up for 3 weeks to stop the virus. I have given up shooting at my private club, Saturday coffee with da boyz, taking my daughters horseback riding with their friends, visiting my elderly parents, etc. etc. Fishing is easy to put on hold for a short period of time. (And no, I'm not a lib.)
