superfly

1. some rivers don't have enough wild fish left to start a broodstock and in the case of the Washougal (my home river) the wild fish are all infected with IHN that they caught from the hatchery fish there.

2. wild broodstocks although good for fishing have not been proven at being successful at anything else.

3. wild stocks ALWAYS rebound when hatchery fish are eliminated!

If we want restored and reliable runs of fish there is ONLY!!!!!!!! one way to accomplish that and that is to have healthy unharvested runs of wild fish. PERIOD!!!!! That is the only method that has ever been proven successful.

The Kalama research team is now conducting an experiment with the survival rates of a wild brood stocks. If they find that thoes wild broodstocks can spawn and produce adult offspring that are indistinguishable from the wild fish then and only then will a hatchery ever have been successful.
I am not willing to allow the wild fish to go extinct just so a few meathunters can have hatchery fish to fish for.
hatchery fish are a MAJOR limiting factor to wild fish if not the main limiting factor not a minor deal. I think you are hugely underestimating the negative impact they have..