Couldn't the giant, warm "blob" that formed off our coast at the end of the summer have something (a lot) to say about the poor returns vs. the forecast? Don't coho put on the majority of their weight in the summer prior to their spawning run? If so, it makes sense that a late season crash in forage could really hurt numbers and average size....

Whatever the case, I agree that it's discouraging to see the run underperform in a year where the best science suggested it should be very good. Suggests the best science might not be that great, and worse, it points to salmon being in even worse trouble than we understood.