Rich -
Clealry since 2001 steelhead management policies have changed. AS you know the State has a new steelhead policy that should address those issues and of course Puget Sound steelhead are now ESA listed.
Keta -
I sure that we all would like to see our river systems supporting higher carrying capacity. Unfortuantely that is very difficult to accomplish.
Such things as Carrying Capacity are determined by the biological prodcutivity of each of our river systems. Carry Capacity like MSY levels vary every year depending n the survival conditions (both freshwater and marine) that the returning adults experienced during their lives. Because of the extremely poor survival conditons that say Skagit steelhead are now experiencing the steelhead carrying capacity of the Skagit basin is much lower than it was in say 1985. Goals could be set at some hope for conditon (higher than current capacity) but all that would do is insure that runs sizes/escapements will consistently be below those goals. The only way those hoped for conditions can be met is for dramatic improvements in either the quality/quantity of the freshwater habitat (producing more smolts per spawner), or significant increases in smolt to adult survival, or some combination of the two.
At some point we have to come to grips with what we have done to our river systems and either live with those biological realities or work our rears off to change things.
Tight lines
Curt