FishNDoc-
Science always wants to put biological systems into nice neat boxes - of course nature does not work that way. However we need to understand the simple before the complex.

Todd -
How long ago is several years. When the CnR season started on the Sauk in 1980 as much as 15% of the hatchery run was caught in March with unspawned hens ocassionally seen as late as the 1st of April. Through the continued spawn timing selection of the hatchery brood stock now (post 2000) no ripe hens are trapped at the hatcheries after late February. While there are still some spent and semi-spent males seen in the river in March. The likelyhood of seeing fish such as the one shown above spawning with any wild fish has been greatly reduced - the probability that occurring is likely only half of what it was 5 or 6 years ago.

The real question is how much impact or risk do such fish represent to the wild population. What genetic information that is available shows that on the Skagit that between the early 1970s and the early 1990s (5 steelhead generations) the wild fish become no more similar to the hatchery fish. Presumably with the overlap in spawning between the hatchery and wild fish reduced from 15% in the 1970s to less than 1% today that difference will continued to be maintained. I would expect that any mal-adapted hatchery genes are being quickly selected from the population by the harsh natural selection that occurs in basins like the Skagit.

Tight lines
S malma