To the fisherman concerned only with dead fish in the boat, what matters is how many can be caught. Further, as WA and the tribes have said (paraphrased) about steelhead "the purpose of fish management is to provide catch and escapment is the number of fish that can't be harvested in order to support the catch". With that mindset, hatchery fish are "better" because a larger fraction of the run can be killed.

Hatchery fish also appeal to developers because they convert land and water to fish more efficiently than the natural habitat. Hoosdport hatchery at one time produced a couple hundred thousand chum on 20-30 cfs of Finch Creek water. The whole Skagit watershed doesn't do that.

I am not suggesting we should push towards hatcheries but they can be economically alluring to politicians who can't say no, governmnets that need a continuously expanding economy, and fishermen consumers that demand dead fish.