Actually, Plunkers remarks are pretty accurate, although I do not agree with his opinion that Atlantics should replace steelhead in our streams.

In the 1980s, WA Fish and Game made concerted efforts to stock Atlantic salmon in the Green River and try to establish a run; all attempts met with failure. I don't know what they were thinking at the time regarding interactions with steelhead and Pacific salmon, but major attempts were made.

I believe there are remnant spawning Atlantic salmon in Puget Sound streams and BC streams, probably the result of those earlier stocking efforts, or periodic losses from net pen facilities. The fact that there appear to be more sightings in BC streams likely reflects the order of magnitude difference in the size of their net pen industry compared to ours.

I don't believe there is sufficient evidence to indicate that Atlantic salmon can establish more than a remnant population in Pacific waters. Look at the numbers: some of the releases from Puget Sound or BC net pens have numbered in the hundreds of thousands of adults at one time. Most of our rivers do not even receive salmon and steelhead smolt plants of this size, and yet no established runs. If 100,000 adults can only produce a few remnant juveniles, think about how many juveniles it would take to produce even more adults necessary to establish a run. The numbers just don't add up.

Great Lakes biologists have had similar frustrations. Historically, landlocked Atlantic salmon runs were present in Lake Ontario, but all attempts to reestablish these fish have failed. Whereas the coho, chinook, and steelhead, all introduced in the 60s, have naturally spawning populations in Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, and Ontario. Pink salmon are the propogation kings in the Great Lakes; after a one time accidental introduction in the 50s (?), they have spread to all 5 Great Lakes, even and odd year runs.

As the news piece states, Atlantic juveniles or sub-adults may be able to hold their own with our Pacific counterparts in the stream environment, but it really appears that the adults have very specific requirements to live and propogate, conditions that don't appear to be present in the Pacific Ocean.

Continued monitoring is necessary to determine, for example, if the genetics of these fish are changing, allowing them to adapt to conditions in the Pacific, but the present numbers do not warrant shutting down the net pen industry. Stinkfoot correctly points out a number of dire "ifs", but present research does not indicate that any of these "ifs" will ever occur.