WDFW has a contract that is open to bids and the contractor is required to take all carcasses regardless of condition from all WDFW facilities. A fish that has been opened ( spawned by cutting them open ) at the facility or is a mortality ( died for some reason ) is not allowed for human consumption.

The fish have many uses from eggs for cheap caviar, bait manufacturers, to fish by products. Very few salmon get recycled or carcasses put out in watersheds. WDFW does not (or did not) get the funds generated but rather the $$$$ go too the volunteer programs.

One of the slams on hatcheries is the "surplus" that commercials and Recs scream are wasted. Facts are that you damn well better have a surplus in mixed H&W stock watersheds such as the Chehalis because you manage to the WILD escapement not the minimum hatchery needs which is only a fraction of the need of wild salmon escapement.

That 15k are at Bingham this early is unusual with the current flows. That 15k is about the fish coming in very early in huge numbers and getting up above the NT and QIN commercials. What surprises me is that the jack count is about half of last year but on the river there were a lot of jacks.