Coho, I did not say clip, I said suppliment, if you wanted to clip a small percentage, that is another thought, but if a pair can only look to reproduce themselves. And this what is happening, this is why the escapement every year is about the same. We are never going to get ahead, if we can suppliment and create a 400% increase in the escapement! we just took the rivers self 1 to 1 reproduction rate from and escapement of 1000 fish to 4000-5000 fish, if you clipped half of what you raised and released the other half early, your benefit would still increase the wild escapement from 1000 to 3000 with 2000 being F1's based of of just self reproduction. Now I understand that F1's are only about 85% as viable as the pure wild component. This percentage is what Salmo and Doc mentioned afew years back. But still the status que is 100% of 1000 what we have now, with an added 85% of 2000 of the less viable first gen removed Broodstock fish, still supplements an additional 1700 fish above escapement with fins to breed in the wild,
And their offspring will come back at the true wild self reproduction rate. It is the only way to increase the wild component.

As far as compitition for food, not buying it, that area also needs help, the Queets, should have the ability to produce to same food for smolts as it did 50 years ago, when the escapement was in the 10 of thousands, what was lost where the high amount of decaying carks, creating less food, so we really need to get the carcuses back, from the hatcheries, processors, make pucks and feed the Eco systems, in our rivers. This would help with your compitition for a lack of food thought.