Anyone that has looked at the recent decline in Green wild winter steelhead production has to be concern. What has happen in the Green is a reflection of the situation through out the Puget Sound/Geogria Basin; just that the Green is joining those populations in decline a little later than some of the others.

As mentioned earlier in the Spring of 2009 only 304 wild steelhead spawned; that was out of estimated run of 312 adults. What really should cause folks great concern is the number of spawners that produced those 312 adults. The wild escapement in 2004 was 2,359 and in 2005 it was 1,298. I would think that when the managers see production dropping to a point it takes 5 or more spawners to produce a single returning adult that drastic actions are needed.

Wonder what all you riverside biologists would recommend doing in that situation. The co-managers assumed that the same poor R/S seen in 2009 would continue in 2010 (erring on the side of the fish). The tribe agreed not to mount any steelhead fisheries. And as we have seen WDFW is closing the river as soon as the Chamber's Creek hatchery fish are essentially done.

BTW -
While the escapements of our wild salmonids in our Puget Sound river basins are estimates the methods used for Green River winter steelhead IMHO are likely to produce the best escapements estimates of any in Puget Sound.

Regarding the allowing of the retention of wild steelhead in the recreational fishery. Remember that was only during the summer season. That kill was aimed at natural produced summer steelhead that were not native to basin (the result of spawning of hatchery fish). The thinking was that production of summer fish was at the cost the wild winter fish. Frankly from the wild winter point of view allowing the retention of those fish probable was not adequate. Allowing the retention of any of those wild summers and ending the planting of summer hatchery smolts may have been a better strategy.

Tight lines
Curt