Right on, Rich G., and well put!!
As you know I fish several rivers, and it's always interesting to see how much aquatic insect activity there is in the river. Rivers with predominantly hatchery runs are almost devoid of aquatics, where rivers & systems with wild runs have a good mix of insects. The smolts must have the food stocks, or they wont survive. At the very best, they'll move downstream or out, where they become part of the food chain before they are big enough to survive.
Why F&W people dont put the spawned out hatchery carcasses back into the system they came out of, is a mystery to me. They have no apparent value beyond that. Maybe a WDFW Area Habitat Biologist would care to respond to the question.
Another point, while I'm on my soap box.
We appear to be seeing a good return of all species this year. And maybe even this winter will see a good return of Steelhead, if the rains come in time. That's the good news.
But I think we may not be in as good shape as we think. The fish returning this season have enjoyed good feeding due to the warm oceans and a greater abundance of forage, so offshore mortality hasnt been as bad. The fish may be smaller, but there should be more of them.
I hope WDFW and NMFS dont misinterpret the short term news as the crisis having passed before they permit more commercial fishery pressure. Once the Ocean temps return to normal, and the returning runs will begin to stabilize, then we'll see what is really happening to the runs.
Just my opinion, and I'm getting out before I get on my other favorite topic, tribal netting.
BTW, how's the Hoh these days?? I drove by earlier this week, and the color looks good, but nobody on the water. Anybody doing any good?