Per OncyT's reference to PS Chinook minimum size limit, my memory is hazy as I had little interest in saltwater fishing. But I had an acquaintance in Mt Vernon who was really into and heavily invested in that fishery, especially for blackmouth. I think the min. size limit was 12" because he would tell stories of catching limits of Chinook that were like 14 or 15". I could not understand the possible enjoyment of trolling 6# downrigger weights to catch salmon that were little larger than bait.

Yes, as to why WDFW stopped letting Chinook spawn naturally upstream of Tumwater Falls. The ESA treated natural spawning as wild fish regardless of origin. Successful natural spawners in the Deschutes would create a harvest management nightmare and possibly lead to the termination of that fairly successful hatchery program, or at least a severe reduction in production. I do think they made the right call. Not because I'm opposed to wild salmon populations, but because the Deschutes contains nanophytes, a ******(can't think of the word at the moment) that is mostly fatal to Chinook (and steelhead). It is abundantly present at McAllister Creek and is why WDFW ended the Chinook program there. The upshot is that no matter how many surplus hatchery Chinook were sent upstream of Tumwater, they would never be able to establish a self sustaining natural population. But logical explanations like that never sway the ESA enforcers, so it was better to stop allowing upstream passage. I'll just add that the native cutthroat in the Deschutes co-evolved with nanophytes in the river basin, and they seem to do well there where no other salmonid does.

As for the fate of the hatchery at Pioneer Park, who knows? It makes sense from the standpoint that the program at Tumwater should not be dependent on hauling eggs and fry back and forth from George Adams at Shelton (and in Hood Canal, if that matters). On the other hand, I'd like an audit showing the cost of putting one Tumwater Chinook in the recreational creel, or are the benefits just going to BC and commercial catches at taxpayer expense? As for the treaty fishery, the Squaxins can't claim the Tumwater Chinook are replacement for the lost natural production of Chinook in the Deschutes River that historically had no anadromous fish.