Interesting discussion-

It seems everyone falls into the trap of latching on to some magic bullet to fix the ills of our rivers - Wild steelhead release, egg box/fry release, wild brood stock, etc. The reality is that we are destroying our rivers and simple and easy fixes are not going to do the trick.

Robert Allen 3 is correct - there is more than ample evidence that fry and egg box release of salmonids that spend extended time in freshwater (coho and steelhead) contributes little future returns. See no need to go into more studies - millions of coho fry a year had been planted in Puget Sound rivers for decades with no measureable success. Steelhead are different than coho - they spend even more time in freshwater (normally 2 years rather 1 year for coho) thus are even more limited by freshwater survival factors.

Going to Catch and Release is also just another magic bullet. CnR is not a conservation tool but rather a management tool that can be used to allocate impacts, provide access to other stocks (salmon, hatchery steelhead etc.) with minimal impacts on co-mingled wild stocks, or provide increasing fishing if anglers are willing to release the fish.

The bottom line is that in many of our wild steelhead populations are in trouble because our rivers are in trouble. We need to set aside this "holy Grail" search for the "magic bullet" solution and step up and address what ails our rivers. This begins with an examination of each and everyone of us looking honestly at our own impacts on the resource both in our fishing and our life styles. It has taken nearly 150 years of a wide variety of activities to put us in this position and reversing this declining trend will not occur over night.

Tight lines
Smalma