Some answers:

Tule fall Chinook are native to the Kalama River. It's likely the stock they're using as broodstock is the same stock that has been in the river forever.

Last fall, WDFW put 1013 wild adult tules over the weir. A wild tule is any adult fall Chinook in the Lower Columbia that shows up on the spawning grounds with an intact adipose fin. They also caught 507 hatchery summer steelhead and 97 wild summer steelhead during the trapping season (usually early August to mid October).

The concern about spawning success is correct. The spawning success of these fish is dependent on the quality of the habitat. That being the case, my sense is that the spawning success of wild fish and hatchery fish aren't much different given that they spawn in the same places. And the success of their progeny would also be similar since they inhabit the same area of the river, the estuary and the ocean.

And, at the risk of stating the obvious, the spawning success of the hatchery fish that are taken out at the trap, and never make it to the spawning grounds, is zero. My sense is that if these fish are allowed to spawn, their success will be considerably higher than zero.

And that is my exact point.........