I'm gonna have to agree with Rich, more or less.

When WDF set the Chinook goals, which are either still in use or higher than current, they explicitly stated that the goals utilized nowhere near the available spawning habitat.

In the 90s I developed, and the others at WDFW improved, a stock/recruit analysis for wild PS chum. This was at a time when chum populations in PS were significantly expanding. The R/S Ticker curve analysis showed that the current returns, for management at MSY, should have escarpments significantly higher than in use then. And probably now,

In the 90s/00s Puyallup pink expanded. The watershed supported 500-800K spawners, or more even though the MSY goal was a tad under 20K.

When the interim Lake WA sockeye goal was set it was based on the previous couple years escapement and set at 350K. After setting, WDF staff discovered that the escapments had been miscalculated and should have been in the area of 450-500K. Plus, the IPSFC staff believed that if the LW watershed was moved to the Fraser they would target a million sockeye.

So, there is a reasonable long-term record to show that goals managed for are nowhere near what the systems can/should support.

In my view, escarpment goals are set for economic reasons. What is the fewest fish we can't kill to maximize what we can.