Interesting that, at least at the hatcheries, WDFW used to take tons of scales, FL, and sex of returns on an annual basis. There should be a very long-term data set of length at age.

What this gets at is that "shrinking" Chinook and even coho should not be any sort of surprise or news. Coupled with oceanographic conditions we should have a pretty good idea about change over time, effects of El Nino, and so on.

We have basically turned Chinook from a big fish that spawned in the largest rivers to essentially a piscivorous, creek spawning chum. Get them into the 10-15 pound range as age 4 and we can have the Kennedy Creek Chinook fishery in the Fall as a warm-up for the chum.