Ah CM the old bug a boo. That the food chain harvest thing is absolutely correct but I have yet to catch many malnourished Chinook. That it effects the overall health and survival is undeniable. Then this the % of the run that is three year old fish is elevated above the past. For GH it looks like this. In 1986 by age group percentage of the run 3 - 13.2 / 4 - 23.8 / 5 -35.3 / 6 - 15.2. Then this in 2019 they were 3- 17.8 / 4 - 59.8 / 5 - 21.2 / 6 - 0.2 which is way past awful.

Bottom line for many generations now ( since the 70's ) our Chinook populations have had substantial increase in 3 yr spawners ( small ). A huge decrease in 5 & 6 year old spawners and 4 year class and increase in % of the run. Simply put we have increased the number of small fish and dramatically reduced the number of large fish spawning and this has resulted in smaller fish. Now the genetics are not lost but rather humans have altered the natural selection process. Remove human interference and natural selection will return the fish to what it was was if environmental conditions permit. Just went full circle to the food chain thing.