WDFW X 1 = 0,

I was never informed about why that decision was made. My guess is that WDFW didn't consider it necessary when they increased total summer run production at Blue Creek. Same total pounds of production, just in one place, and sort of hypothetically reducing the risks of straying and spawning with or in the same places used by bonafide native wild steelhead in the lower river tributaries. Even when the risk is small, management might see it as a small thing to change the program when total production stays the same, or even increases. Is the change beneficial to sport fishing? Probably not, but that's not the only consideration in the equation that management is faced with balancing.

The sport fishing world we live in has changed dramatically in recent years. Not so long ago - and when hatchery smolt to adult returns were significantly higher - a lot of management decisions were approved if they improved sport fishing opportunity and resulted in grip-n-grin photos in Fishing and Hunting News. That was good PR for WDG, then WDW, then WDFW. ESA has certainly changed a lot of that. Hatchery steelhead production for Puget Sound streams has been reduced 65% over the last 10 years. That, combined with pitifully low SAR has made winter steelhead fishing pretty much a waste of time. Total Cowlitz hatchery steelhead has remained about the same, last I heard, the difference being that early winters were terminated, late winters increased, and summer run production increased. Unfortunately, SAR is so darn low, returns are so bad that I didn't fish the Cowlitz even once this summer or fall. That's a first, but I digress. A lot of decisions to reduce hatchery steelhead stocking and limiting the hatchery release points to places where adult collection of uncaught fish is highly likely are based on helping recovery of wild, or natural production, ESA steelhead. IMO that won't have much of an affect on recovery because recovery is dependent on more significant factors. But as you know, there are a lot to True Believers who are certain that hatchery steelhead are a main cause of poor wild steelhead production.

Sg