Thanks to everyone that contributed their opinion to my earlier discussion. I have tried to soak up as much information about this issue since I first learned about it, and I will say that the community on here has offered me plenty of insight into the inner workings of this lawsuit and its potential.

First off...

Like many folks in the sportfishing industry, I am pro-wild fish. I think they are one of the most beautiful finned creatures that we have in our waters and I treat them with the utmost respect. Initially, Wild Snoqualmie Steelhead was the cause of my fishing infatuation. Honestly, I get far more excited with the thought of releasing one healthy wild fish than I do at the thought of limiting on hatchery winter steelhead. I've tied fancy jigs, I've dropped plenty of cash on premium rods both fly and gear. I dream of trips to far off meccas, I plan my free time around fishing. I love fishing. I live for fishing. For many anglers, often times our sportfishing passion turns us into artists and romantics about the fish... but we also have to be realists.

The fact of the matter is, Wild Steelhead in Puget Sound are the victim of many factors... largest of which is poor habitat. The resource extraction and urban sprawl that is the side effect of 150 years of carelessness has been the doom of these fish. For the first hundred years of modern settlement, we shaved the hillsides bare of trees, we used our rivers as sluices for logs which scoured every redd, we dammed as we pleased and we diked whatever estuary that we fancied.

WE SCREWED UP PUGET SOUND. Unregulated pollution from the WWII industrial complex to win regardless of any cost. Suburban sprawl. Enough asphalt to fill Delaware. A sewage treatment system that never separated rainwater from raw waste in one of the rainiest places in the country (if ya didn't know... severe rain events cause a direct sewage outflow into Puget Sound & some rivers). It's almost like we tried to kill off these fish. Big problems. Only now we are trying to fix it. We pour millions into rehabilitation. We mitigate new development. We regulate forestry a bit. But fixing the residual effects of 150 years of habitat destruction is the elephant in the room no one wants to tranquilize. It won't come fast. It won't come cheap. It won't get the broad support needed once folks realize they will actually have to pay for it.

FACT: The state fish of Washington is the Steelhead... they deserve better.

They swim through Everett (you, yeah you... I know you were thinking about weed & feed on the lawn this weekend!)
They swim through Seattle (how much meth is cooked under the 1st Ave So. Bridge now?)
They swim through Wild Fish Conservancy HQ Duvall (dude... don't let your purebred poop anywhere in my watershed bro!)
They swim through Puyallup (barfed up scones)

FACT: There is no location on planet earth with robust stocks of Wild Steelhead in a major metropolitan area. Our steelhead swim through the city. 3 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE IN PUGET SOUND.

So the issue is complex. And we have conservation groups threatening litigation against the state. We know that the stray rate and intermingling rate for Chambers Creek stock/Wild Fish is low.

QUESTION: When does one catch the most downriver winter hatchery fish?
ANSWER: January/February
QUESTION: When does one catch the most downriver winter wild fish?
ANSWER: May/June

I'm not saying the WFC's concerns don't have merrit. What I am saying is that just because their lawsuit may be justified, the correct solution is to work with the State of Washington to produce a Hatchery Genetic Management Plan that will work.

I want some feedback on a few things still....

I don't understand why our Commission hasn't tackled this massive issue before it came to this.
I don't understand why DFW hasn't gone to the Legislature or made public this multi-million dollar problem.
I don't understand why more people aren't upset about the loss of this fishery.
I don't understand if this is more of a paperwork issue or whether it's the fact no one in Seattle can agree on anything.
I don't understand why we the taxpayers are letting attorneys bully us and bleed dry our cash-strapped DFW, which is a distraction on so many levels.
I don't understand why WFC isn't getting grants to do the scientific research to find a real solution.
I don't understand why people think that Wild Steelhead will flourish once hatchery fish are gone when we haven't already seen a huge positive impact from reduced hatchery plants.
I don't understand why people who have seen their favorite sportfishing opportunities killed in the past standing up this time.
I don't understand why more folks aren't getting involved.

We must fight to get the permits, we must fight to get better science and better management.

Puget Sound has so many complex issues that hinder the recovery of key species, yet sometimes jumping in with both feet on a solution that is arguable and shaky at best is not wise.

If you sit back for a moment, think about how the act of fishing has benefited your life overall, think about your children, and think about never being able to fish for steelhead again in Puget Sound. That is the threat. Do you ever want to share that joy with your kids? If you close the hatcheries now, you will never see the day when we master a thriving wild fish population and a responsible hatchery program. If you shudder our steelhead hatcheries... they will never reopen. ONCE YOU LOSE IT YOU WILL NEVER NEVER NEVER GET IT BACK.