Rich,

The benefits of a wild brood stock program for steelead depends on the steelhead management objective. If the objective is to enhance fishing for steelhead, such a programs can help achieve that, but it does so at some risk (more later). The existing programs that stock Chambers Creek steelhead all over the west side also enhance fishing, since that makes up most of the winter steelhead harvest in WA state.

I think there are three reasons that WDFW doesn't use native steelhead broodstocks. First, by precedent, the state has long standing programs that use the Chambers, Skamania, and a very few other hatchery steelhead broodstocks (not a very good reason, but a reason none-the-less).

Second, the Chambers stock spawns early and has been selectively bred to spawn even earlier. This is important to the hatchery program. Juvenile steelhead have to be reared to a minimum of 10 smolts/pound in order to be release with a good chance of survival to adult stage. Most managers try to raise them even larger, to 5 or 6 per pound. This is much easier to do with fish that spawn in January than with native steelhead that spawn in May. Four extra months of rearing makes a huge difference in getting the juveniles large enough to smolt in the spring. If all steelhead hatcheries used native broodstock, many would not be able to release their annual production according to the minimum size rule, and so they would be out of business in one generation.

Third, by dumb luck, the separation of timing between the hatchery broodstocks and the native winter runs has greatly minimized genetic pollution of most native winter steelhead populations throughout western washington. Most native winter runs don't spawn until March or later, and very few Chambers fish spawn after March 15. Consequently, the genetic interaction between hatchery and native winter steelhead has been almost immeasurable.

Some fish geneticists maintain that any hathcery life changes a fish significantly. The native broodstock program that affects a population the least is the type conducted on the Vedder River in B.C. Wild broodstock are used, with the resulting smolts being marked. In the subsequent generation, only unmarked adults are used for broodstock, so the population never acquires more than one generation of hatchery culture in its genetic code. I have to assume this is better than 50 years worth. I think this is the same strategy employed in the Snider Creek program.

I add that comment because studies indicate that wild smolts survive at higher rates than hatchery smolts, on average. So there must be a genetic survival advantage to being wild, even tho the hatchery smolts are frequently larger than their wild counterparts. BTW, I was told that wild steelhead on the Cowlitz survived at 3 times the rate of the hatchery brats last winter, so I believe there is something to this.

Other factors that are important to wild broodstock programs include the fact that it is harder to raise smolts from wild broodstock. It isn't surprising that it is harder to raise wild animals than domestic ones. As an aside, I've had a couple hatchery managers tell me that raising juvenile spring chinook from wild broodstock was the hardest of all. The fish just don't take well to a hatchery environment.

I think it is more important to look to native broodstock for summer run steelhead programs, since the hatchery and wild fish have closer to identical spawn timing. So rearing period advantages are more than cancelled out by adverse genetic interaction.

One more thought, several studies have indicated that hatchery steelhead spawning naturally in the wild are mostly unsuccessful in producing subsequent returning adults, even tho they produce smolts. This is extremely important because those juveniles produced by the hatchery spawners are taking up space that food that could have otherwise been used by native, wild steelhead juveniles. Remember, there are only so many smolts that can be produced by a river - they might as well be ones that have the best chance for survival. The effect is to reduce overall natural steelhead production by having the hatchery fish spawn naturally.

So it comes back to the management objective. We may or may not agree with WDFW regarding some steelhead management goals, but I really don't think they're a bunch of dolts.

I hope this post is helpful in your consideration.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.