Milt Roe,

I should have included marine smolt to adult survival as part of the habitat productivity and capacity element. Although dramatically different, the ocean is an extension of salmonid habitat.

Cncfish,

Yes, supplemental feeding in streams has been tried in limited applications - controlled flow side channels. The concept has limited applicability and is not generally feasible. I don't know of any data indicating that the subsequent adult population is increased, and I doubt that any incremental increase would be subsequently sustained by the small incremental increase in the nutrient base, if any.

FF2,

In harvest management, escapement above the goal is a harvest management failure, as is escapement below the goal. Unfortunately the level of precision some folks want from harvest management is impossible, so I think harvest management can truly only be said to be failing when escapements consistently fail to meet the goal due to over-harvest. Some runs, like PS steelhead, are not harvested to any significant degree (< 4%), and still fail to make escapement. I'd have a hard time blaming that lack of fish on over-harvest.

OncyT,

I think there are about to be some more examples where supplementation failed to increase populations. The reason is the very topic of this thread, carrying capacity is less than thought. We can supplement a spawning population all we want, but that won't increase the intrinsic carrying capacity of a given habitat unit. This is gonna' screw up a whole lotta' recovery goals that were probably more "faith based" than ecology based.

Cncfish,

Nutrient enhancement can only serve to increase fish population abundance if nutrients are the limiting factor. While more nutrients would likely help; i.e., we see native char and some trout experience a beneficial response to large pink and chum salmon escapements, there are still major ecosystem elements in PNW river systems that are severely compromised. That results in reduced productivity and carrying capacity that cannot be offset by increased nutrients alone.

Sg