FNP,

I’m stickin’ with Salmo g. because one of my coworkers thinks I’m older than dirt. Further, I’m not a supporter of the AFS decision to split rainbow and cutthroat off from the genus Salmo. Robert Bhenke, the leader of that charge, is a species splitter who would have nearly every major river drainage having its own species of trout. I’m somewhat more of a genetic clumper, ergo, I remain Salmo g.

The 12,000 adult steelhead are never really counted (as if they actually could be). I think for steelhead, it is a rolling 5 year average of the combined spawning escapement and harvest estimate. All steelhead returning to the trout hatchery, the salmon hatchery, or points upstream, and any recreational and commercial net harvest are counted as part of the 12,000, be they hatchery, wild, or indeterminate. Steelhead that return to the Coweeman, Toutle, or other Cowlitz tributaries, or the lower mainstem Cowlitz River are not included.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.