As always, the details are important!

The study says that 33% of tags placed on the wild fish were returned anglers and 55% of the tags placed on hatchery fish were returned. Because the anglers were voluntarily returning the tag information those rates would the floor estimate of the encounter rates.

More importantly in discussing the difference in recoveries of tags from hatchery and wild fish "Lubenau said the reason for that is fairly simple. The two types of steelhead tend to naturally segregate in the river, and anglers focus more attention and effort on hatchery steelhead."

Anyone who have spent much time on rivers with a hatchery terminal area (release site) would quickly recognize that the catch in those areas is dominated by hatchery fish. The wild fish are more broadly distributed while many of the hatchery fish are more clustered near those release/rearing sites.

The real news in this study is the confirmation that the wild steelhead catch and release mortality of 5% used by the managers is reasonable. The measured mortality was 4%.

Curt