There was a study up in AK where they C&R'd coho in the estuary of a small stream, I believe. 100% post release mortality. There is a window where you should simply keep the fish, as it's gonna die. There is literature on it, there in Chehalis watershed in formation on this.

Hell, I seem to remember when there was a C&R net study where recoveries of released fish were pro, zip, nada. But, since we needed a number to justify a fishery one was imported from an entirely different circumstance.

I would not trust WDFW on a conservation issue any more than I trust the White House to tell us how to deal with Covid.