OK guys I admit that I don't know everything like some on this BB do...I am in a learning curve when it comes to Washington Trout. I do know a few things though and have been around long enough to smell a smoke screen. Washington Trout appears to me to be an environmental-type protest group seeking to eliminate ALL hatcheries. Washington Trout appears to be issuing contradictory messages about their purpose or "cause". I am no big fan of WDFW but I have learned that it takes time and patience to achieve compromises. WDFW has filed a plan to amend the practices of the Puget Sound hatcheries to NMFS. If approved this plan , which I'm sure is not perfect, would make needed changes to the way hatcheries operate. We will all see what direction Washington Trout's federal lawsuit takes if the hatchery plan is approved.
Concerning the Sockeye hatchery on the Cedar: The Sockeye run is an imported one so any discussion of the "wild" sockeye co-mingling with hatchery Sockeye is just misinformed. Whether the presence of Sockeye of whatever origin damages or could damage the weak Chinook presence in the Cedar is up for debate.
And last but not least, it seems that trout fishermen always show up in the debate discussing salmon in the rivers. I'm not slamming fly fishermen at all since I partake in that sport too. It just seems to me that these trout groups ,sometimes in alliances with environmental extremeists, always complain about salmon issues. Is it because if we had no salmon in the rivers the trout fishing would be better? I honestly don't understand. Personally I think a Sockeye fishery in Lake Washington helps bring more people to the sport of fishing....AAAA maybe that's what WT and the trout fishermen don't like: All those OTHER fishermen on THEIR river, lake or stream???