The Grays Harbor basins contain some of the best remaining natural coho habitat in western WA. The best and probably only way to improve and possibly achieve wild coho escapements in the Humptulips is to stop rearing and releasing hatchery coho. I hate sounding like I'm anti hatchery because I'm not. What I'm opposed to is WDFW spending my tax and license dollars to raise hatchery salmon that are caught in AK, Canada, ocean and harbor treaty and non-treaty commercial with few left for the recreational creel.

If there were no hatchery salmon in Grays Harbor, WDFW and even the QIN would have no choice but to manage for healthy wild Chinook and coho populations with harvest rates that those populations could sustain. I don't think we recreational anglers would notice too much difference from what we get now.