Thanks for the addition Curt. Respawners are essential to species diversity and overall population productivity. However, a run made up of too many respawners, as Curt points out, indicates a very low productivity of new recruits in the population. High respawner rates at the northern margin of the species occurrence makes sense considering the overall lower productivity of rivers at those latitudes. Unfortunately it's become too easy to forget that WA and OR are, or were, the center for steelhead as a species, and the region where the species enjoyed its highest rates of productivity. Respawner rates of 12 or 13% are normal and indicative of a high rate of new recruits in each cohort of steelhead. Darn near makes my head explode to think of how much we actually had here and how very little is left.

And to WDFW X 1 = 0's credit as the resident fucktard whisperer, 10 pensions wouldn't produce the 112 steelhead that have returned to Puget Sound this year. It looks like love ain't the only thing money can't buy.