Ain't it great when we all get testy? Ah you gotta love bad hair days, no offense to those lacking a top notch!

It is interesting though that one interlocks a response that has salmon and Steelhead in the same swipe as that is apple and oranges due to the fact that Steelhead really do not lend themselves to a hatchery environment, have different harvests regimes, just totally a world apart from salmon. Well I guess they both live in the water.

Question though. Are we chatting about hatcheries universal or site specific as it almost reads that some are utilizing the hatchery straying as a huge % of spawners, which may or may not be the case depending on location. Example in GH the Hump lacks a weir so integrated or not you got straying, big time and not good. Bingham & Skookumchuck integrated as integrated can be with a effective stop weir on one, dam on another. So you have removal of returning adults and the purpose of utilizing a wild / hatchery integrated stock is to minimize to impact to the natural spawning population by the few that do interbreed with the natural spawning population. What little interaction there is and the loss of some productivity ( that phase can start a real argument as to degree ) is out weighed by the additional harvest opportunity provided to all user groups. Some places the hatchery is located on a modest size trib you may have a weir failure under extreme conditions or a greater W/H mix than ideal but as it is a small portion of the streams reach and the fact that the natural spawner / hatchery interaction is mainly limited to that area, all bad? I suspect in the big picture no but ........

Now if this [Bleeeeep!] for tat is that all decisions regarding fish must put the ultimate and best outcome for the fish before all other considerations then this thread is irrelevant as you just entered fantasy land. You want a perfect scenario for salmon & Steelhead? End all harvest which includes C&R, mandatory growth management to zero stream impact, and land use reform tree farms & agriculture to again zero stream impact. Do that and the fish will do fine thank you.

But the human impacts will continue, the population will continue to expand, harvest will continue on so again it is about how to protect the creature the best we can while maintaining access to harvest. I ain't no bio folks just a farm boy with a 30 year relationship hands on with the creature and as much as it saddens me that is what will happen. Get over it, live with it and work to cut the best deal for the fish as well as the fisher. Real world not fantasy land.

Thought about this a bit but will put it out there as it is being discussed in many circles. As hatchery production is reduced and with it the tribal catch what are the odds the tribes go to court for damages due to the loss of harvest both hatchery and wild. My best , do not have a clue, but I think the folks that are preparing for this are right it will come and that will be one hell of a legal action.