Doc Fish

Couple of comments, first, the survival of hatchery smolts is generally lower then for wild smolts for all hatchery programs (although not as low as in the ODFW memo you posted). Where you make things up is in volume. The survival from egg to smolt can be as high as 90 percent in a hatchery, while in the wild, much much lower. So you get so many more smolts to stock that it usually more than makes up for a lower smolt to adult survival rate relative to wild fish.

Second comment is to be careful not to compare apples and oranges. All of the salmon/trout species (and probably individual stocks) react differently to hatchery conditions. You can't take the ODFW coho numbers and apply them across the board to steelhead or the other salmonid species.

I didn't think the Canadians were having that much of a difference in survival rates between their broodstock steelhead and wild fish. Seems to me they would certainly re-evaluate their programs if they were yielding numbers such as those found by ODFW. It hope that Oregon and BC are comparing notes.

All in all, the ODFW results and other work conducted by Chilcote indicate that hatchery brood stock programs may not work for rebuilding wild runs, but should only be considered for providing harvestable fish. Their role in the conservation of wild stocks may be limited to decreasing the harvest pressure on wild fish.

Interesting that the ODFW memo is dated two years ago. I wonder if they've made any progress answering some of the questions they raised regarding why the smolt to adult survival rates were so low?