Just look at Chinook biology. If something good happens in freshwater this year it is 4 years before the results come back. If the ocean lets it.

We should learn (now there's an oxymoron) from other species like Trumpeter Swan, Whooping Crane, California Condor. The swan and crane had protection in the early 1900s and it wasn't until about a century later that they really seemed to take off. Slow increases, with no kill.

Salmon recovery isn't going to happen because we won't control population. Like Salmo said, if we acquire land and protect it (tie it up) we may have a chance. Just takes money and willpower.