Todd -- Steelhead by catch during chum management is actually fairly low these days. the numbers are available. Chum escapement was definitely lower 10-20 years ago than it is now, at least according to the survey data. Also, the big increase in sport interest in chum fishing has only been over the past decade or so in my observation. The reason that we changed the management objective for chum was precisely to let the runs grow and see how big they could get. That's why a harvest rate is better than a fixed escapement goal -- because at any run size a portion of additional fish will go to escapement. Chum management has been successful in my view because we have fish to work with. This isn't he case for coho and chinook where so many are (or were in the past) harvested before they even reach the terminal area. But that's just my perspective.
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Two Dogs