I'm not anti-hatchery. However I am opposed to paying to produce hatchery salmon that are mostly caught in AK, BC, and commercial fisheries. Rather than getting completely out of the hatchery salmon business, I'd like WDFW to conduct a hatchery audit of each salmon hatchery to figure out how much it costs to put a hatchery salmon in the recreational creel. Then keep producing salmon at the hatcheries that are top contributors to sport catch. The remaining hatcheries could either be closed or switch to raising trout to stock in waters where license buyers get an opportunity to fish for them.

Much as I like fishing for steelhead, including hatchery steelhead, the smolt to adult return rates just don't justify the costs. I wouldn't close it all down however. Keep the mitigation hatcheries producing because, well, mitigation. And keep a couple of the more productive state steelhead hatcheries to preserve future options in case return rates ever again return to rates high enough to justify the cost.