Just a few points I took away from what was a very informational presentation:

1. The "experts" put the potential carrying capacity of Lake WA at 100MM sockeye fry.

2. The goal has been to produce and release 34MM fry from the hatchery.

3. To date the maximum production has been 20MM fry.

4. Failure to achieve production goal has been due to heavy spawner loss attributed primarily to heat stress during transit from salt to Lk WA. Average female produces 3,200 eggs.

5. 98% of fry are lost before they migrate to the salt; an estimated total of 72MM fry in 2012 did not generate sufficient returns to support a fishery.

6. That loss is significantly attributed to predation by both native and introduced species exacerbated by improved water clarity resulting from improved water treatment (less phosphorus).

It seemed that there has been some beginnings of discussions on how to reduce the spawner loss and the impact of predators but as with all things involving a bureaucracy overcoming the inertia is difficult and in this case there are several bureaucracies involved to include but not necessarily limited to the Council, City of Seattle, NOAA/NMFS and WDFW.

A question was raised about the potential of converting part or all of the hatchery to other species. Again, the Landsburg Mititigation Agreement and NOAA's Chinook ESA listing were noted as limiting factors as was the fact that the current configuration does not have the pollution control system that would be required for large biomass of Chinook being raised for a much longer period than sockeye.

So, does the collective "we" have the willingness to pursue improving the survival of returning adults and also that of pre-smolt fish in the lake? The message from the audience was to try and make it happen rather than simply throw in the towel.

The meeting's facilitator indicated that the three slide show presentations would be posted to their website (www.cedarrivercouncil.org) but as of this morning that had not happened.