Well a number of questions raised are good but this is the simple fact. ALH is maxed out as to space. To get 60K more Winter Steelhead and 100k Coho to net pens you would have to get rid of something and the only something available is the Rainbow Trout and Summerrun Steelhead. Do that and you have room.

Lake Aberdeen Net Pens performed poorly in the past predators from birds to Otter just plain everything including storms breaking them loose to hang up on the bottom. The staff was as good as it gets but it is a mission impossible. If they do the dams lake substantial difficulties exist with cold water retarding growth and location.

Then this the Coho reared at the facility are really vulnerable to Columnaris. Aberdeen lake Hatchery is just not a Coho facility and over the years the Pathologist has fought this fight over and over. If they rear them at say Bingham one would be lucky to get back 50% of the adults to the Wynoochee as Coho imprint on the rearing home water source at the front of their life cycle not the final freshwater time as Steelhead do. Net pens would help but only help get some of the returning adults to the Wynoochee.

So until Region 6 decides to be forthright and define just what they are going to do everything is conjecture. Except this, the numbers put forth in the press release and Larry Philips do not fit in the current Aberdeen Lake Hatchery facilities capabilities unless you move something out.