I've heard the same thing..Use them or lose them but I think it applies to below Bonneville hatchery fish not upriver. Every fish that crosses the ladders is a big adaboy for the BPA and if they can't be caught then the Mitchell Act Funding would be redirected to the hatcheries up above. Of course then you have catch sharing issues with the tribes when you close the terminal fisheries and tributary hatcheries and throw it all out into the mainstem. Something that seems to escape the authors of this legislation.