Rich - You may be jumping to conclusions here.

It is quite possible that those fish were caught in the personal use area of the lower river and the carcasses were put there purposely to add nutrients to the upper area where steelhead spawn and fry hatch.

Out of concern for the resource I always bleed and gut my fish where I catch them and then, after filleting them at home, return the carcass to the river where it was caught. Whenever possible it will be placed in a tributary or upriver location where fry are likely to find it.

Many of my friends have learned to do the same and I always encourage others to return what they can to the resource.