Inland-
Interesting discussions we are having - you are asking some interesting questions however I must get to work so I'm just giving you a condensed version to them.

You are right a better term would be fisheries managers (manage all sorts of fishing as well as the fish).

Regarding whether the stocks would respond to harvest. -- In the early 1980s when the then Department of Game first introduced WSR to Washington steelhead managmenet (mainly on Puget Sound rivers) there was little doubt that the wild stocks had been and were being over fished. By establishing escapement goals for the wild fish and using WSR (any remember those fin cards) the numbers of wild fish reaching the spawning grounds increased dramatcially on nearly every river - the increases as I remember were typcially about 1/3. Recent when WSR was applied to the same rivers due to declining run sizes there has been virtually no response.

Another example using the Skagit - in the late 1980s and early 1990s the developed a concern about the status of bull trout/Dolly Varden throughout the State of Washington (and most of the West). The local fisheries manager during the middle and late 1980s looked into the life history and char fisheries on the Skagit and concluded that they were being overfished. The overfishing was primarily occurring on the sub-adult immature fish. As result of the information collected a minimum size limit was established of 20 inches. This allowed virtually all the fish (99+%) to spawn at least once prior to entering the fishery. In the early 1990s is was decided what was needed was state-wide ban on the fishing for bull trout/Dolly Varden to protect the fish. The local fisheries managers in several locations include the Skagit argued that it was not needed in those specific locations because the limiting factors had been successfully addressed. They were allowed to have exceptions to the standard state wide rule. On the Skagit since that time the abundance of spawning bull trout in the Skagit has increased 10 fold, the number of large older fish has increased just as dramatically (more than 5% of the adult populations spawns 5 or more times and some fish are living to be teenagers and achieving some remarkable sizes). Clearly Harvest was the limiting factor - it was addressed and the fish reponded. In fact it could be argued that there now exists a world class fishery that would be unavailable to the ethical angler without that state wide exception. At the same time the winter steelhead managed with WSR have not responded nearly as dramatically.

Regarding the large harvest during the 1970s. Several factors were in play 1) exeptional marine survivals were occurring, 2) lots of hatchery fish were being harvested and 3) the wild stocks were being over fished.

Regarding the diversity of the Kamchatka steelhead - I assuming rather than 18 year classes (which would mean that some fish are 18 years old) you are talking about 18 various life histories (different smolt ages, time at sea, multiple spawning etc). In which case I have looked at those kind of factors for the Skagit wild winter steelhead. In scale samples collected in various winter steelhead fisheries I found 17 such combinations. Those didn't include the resident rainbow component of the population nor the few fish that exhibit the 1/2 pounder type life histories that I have seen in the basin. In other words not much difference. Now certainly there are not nearly as many repeat spawners (we can get into my theories as why that might be later if you wish). Clearly I have spend some time thinking about such issues.

You are correct of course that over fishing for all our anadromous fish have been and may still be a problem with some stocks. However we can't change the past; only learn from it.

Tight lines
S malma