Originally Posted By: WN1A
The metric that best evaluates a hatchery program is adult returns. In the Columbia Basin the total biomass of smolts released from hatcheries often exceed that of the returning adults. No for profit operation could justify continuing operation with such results. Without the ESA and required mitigation for the Columbia River dams hatcheries and all harvest would probably not exist.


Give that man a GOLD star!

But one question... is your term "returning adults" measured at the rivermouth or is it pre-harvest adult recruitment?

Remember that a lot of folks are reaping the benefits of hatchery production long before the fish ever cross the Buoy 10 line.
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"Let every angler who loves to fish think what it would mean to him to find the fish were gone." (Zane Grey)

"If you don't kill them, they will spawn." (Carcassman)


The Keen Eye MD
Long Live the Kings!