Fish returning to the hatchery are counted as "spawning escapement".... just as fish that spawn in the river are counted as spawning escapement. These surplus hatchery fish are counted as part of the run size but not as part of the harvest. Therefore, they do not "count" on anyone's share.

The vast majority of fish returning to a given hatchery are returns from releases at that same hatchery. However, the hatchery crews always do a fairly complete job of sampling the surplus return for marks and for coded wire tags. Why? Because there are known to be other fish that come in with the hatchery returns. Typically, there will be a few naturally produced fish that enter the hatchery along with all the surplus hatchery fish. Also, there might be a stray or three from a neighboring river. The WDFW and tribal hatchery staff do a good job of sorting all this out despite the often large numbers of surplus fish.

The average hatchery coho seems to be large this year. Marine survival might be a bit lower this past year but the feeding conditions must have been terrific.