Since ESA listings have no effect on the Canadian coho fishery, I don't see any benefit to listing PS coho. There is good evidence that fishing in the north sound is not harming the wild runs because fishing is only allowed when the wild runs are forecast above the escapement goal. South sound is a different story. The wild runs were sacrificed to the altar of hatchery exploitation rates decades ago, and the wild runs have been extirpated. Most coho in south sound have Green River hatchery coho genetics, although a few other - hatchery - blood lines might exist as well. If the point is to restore wild coho to south sound streams, the solution is easy enough. Close the hatcheries. The existing coho will easily colonize any available habitat in short order.

Plus Sam has a few errors in his petition. The Deschutes River near Olympia had no historic coho run due to Tumwater Falls, and the wild (lhatchery origin) coho don't do especially well there anyway, possibly due to nanophytes. And the White River in the Puyallup basin is essentially a wild native stock, having been planted very little since the river was written off due to the many years PSE dewatered it with their hydro project. Since the water was restored, the native coho run has been doing quite well; hardly a case for ESA listing. There may be others.

Sg