Gotcha. So theoretically you have a wild stock in which a significant portion of the fish aren't as resilient as they could be - maybe more susceptible to predators, maybe not as good at finding food in the ocean, maybe not as skilled at getting into the upper reaches of the watershed.

So, besides the obvious value of preserving a pure wild strain (take a utilitarian approach for a minute), wouldn't a resource manager want to weigh how many more steelhead a broodstock program puts into the Quinault vs. how many it takes out due to compromising the genes of wild fish and subsequently causing them to die before spawning?