Personaly hatchery fish do not satisfy my fishing wants.The best satisfaction comes from sneeking into a canyon on a section of a river not frequented by others and finding a wild fish or two.This is just me and I try hard not to put my self on moral ground it is just what I seek when I go fishing.

I have become intimate with some of our native stocks of salmon and w/s steelhead out here on the hood canal.They need to be shut down from sport fishing.Those waters are some of the most pristine in the state as far as logging,polution goes,and the fish still can not make a recovery!?Why are they even open?Because the state has created an artificial fishery based on winter steel head plants.

That is my big problem with the hatcheries.I see them more as a tool to cover a bunch of political based science that does not work.I believe the state is more into covering there asses and defending themselves then they are into managing our fisheries.I do know,based on there actions,that they could care less about the fish.

I would have to agree that the majority of our watersheds have much bigger problems than the hatcheries that need to be addressed.Actually I think that there are MANY small things that combined show just how delicate the relationship betweeen mother nature and our androminous runs are.Replacing culverts is not going to solve it,we need less dirt roads,way bigger buffers along the rivers etc,comeercial liscense bought buy the tax payer,seal, sea lion population controls etc..

I got to watch two poachers go into a favorite section of the skoke this year and litterally wipe out a strain of resident spawning fish.This was done by two guys and a bucket of worms.This shows me that our wild stocks cannnot stand up to the preasure of our current population.We will always need a source of hatchery fish to satisfy the needs of the majority of our fishermen.I have no problem with this but unfortunately I believe that the hatcheries are more a tool to cover the truth.

got to go to work