The thing I find most interesting about Ricker curves is how anyone... I mean ANYONE.... can draw such an exquisitely shaped curve out of a dataset that looks a helluva lot more like a random scattergram? Yes I get the concept of carrying capacity and density dependent productivity, and fully accept it. But to construct a theoretical mathematical curve to describe that interaction is a fool's game when you look at real live data points.

Look, here's the raw GH data.



Now put the points on a simple spawner-recruit X-Y graph and you get these for each sub-basin....

Chehalis:



Humptulips:


Imagine for a moment that the Ricker curve is not superimposed on either graph.... just the data points and the linear replacement line.

You'd have to be some psychotic Greek astronomer on potent psychedelic drugs... you know, one of the dudes who identified and named all the constellations... to see some imaginary curve in that scatter plot. GMAFB!