Years ago, while I was working as a fishcop on the Columbia, I also volunteered to help spawning at the Kalama hatchery. Only the largest of the returning Chinook were selected. Some time later, the word came down from Olympia that all sizes of fish were to be selected for spawning. Some nit-wit decided to do this to maintain the average size of the species. What an idiot. Once again a person educated beyond their intelligence made a decision without living in the real world. So the hatchery system began the process of shrinking the average size of salmon. Look at the size of Coho. Same deal. In our world of the Northwest, and beyond, salmon are selected for the largest size in our fisheries, so genetically they are going to shrink since the leftovers are the ones that carry on. I have no idea what the hatchery practices are now as far as size selection goes. In nature we all know that it is the survival of the fittest, where larger male salmon get to spawn with the females.