Maguana,

I've never heard that it's the law. I've always understood it as simply standard operating procedure. It's a lot easier to kill spawn than live spawn the steelhead.

I've not heard anything about a disease issue in that regard, either, although there may be a more recent policy. Some native broodstock programs live spawn their fish and release the kelts back to the river. It's hard to understand how a disease issue figures in.

It is also true that respawners are seldom much larger than they were on their previous return because they simply regain the weight that they lost during the earlier migration. The exception is when a fish stays out in the ocean for two years before returning again. Then they will have time to both replace lost weight and gain some new growth as well.

Another thought is the survival rate. Kelts could likely survive at about 10% or so. Compare that to the 2% or so for hatchery smolts. Hmmm, could this be a rocket science equation in the works? I pointed out in a previous thread that it takes about 8 pounds of smolts to produce one returning adult steelhead. Maybe WDFW should raise smolts all the way through to adult, spawn them and release kelts as a way to obtain a decent return on the investment.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.