Okay, this is an honest question: How many of you consider the current state of winter steelhead fishing on Puget Sound rivers a "quality experience?"

I'm serious, because the answer to this question would explain a lot. To me, what we have today is a poor excuse for steelhead fishing--the run size, the compressed timing, the speed at which Chambers Creek fish rush to the hatchery outlet holes, the average size and condition of the fish themselves...all a tiny shadow of what they could and should be.

And it's not like we can just hang onto what we have, which is what it appears many on this board would like to do. The hatchery returns are trending toward zero. Rivers are frequently closed just to get the few fish they need for hatchery spawning. The original run of Chambers Creek is extinct. The more smolts we release, the fewer adults--hatchery and wild--we get back. If we stick with what we're doing, we'll be expecting a different outcome right up until there's no Puget Sound winter steelhead at all.

TastySalmon: The cost cited for N. Fork Nooksack hatchery winter steelhead is a "per harvested adult" cost based on simple math and the WDFW's own information.

I am not a WFC employee, but rather, a lifelong steelheader who is fed up with the current state of our fisheries. If you have "many peer-reviewed studies which contradict" the studies I cited, please list them here. I would love to see them.

I never, ever said "habitat is fine and dandy," and I am not copping out. I merely stated that we are below carrying capacity already on many of the rivers from a habitat standpoint, so that isn't the limiting factor.

I do not "want hatcheries gone" out of principle, I have just read through the science and understand that there's a good chance they are the primary cause of our declining fisheries. What I want is good steelhead fishing.

Anyway, I will stop trying to refute your arguments one by one here...I look forward to your response and the citing of contradictory studies. Again, my only agenda is to regain quality steelhead fishing opportunities in the near and longterm future. I am willing to "risk" the current state of fishing to help ensure that my kids and theirs have a chance at quality, self-sustaining fisheries in the future.

Skookum