Ah it is about pay back for the years that WDFW DID NOT produce the smolts required. Aberdeen Lake Hatchery does not have the capacity to rear that many smolt so the plan is to do the required yearly smolt at ALH and the payback for years WDFW failed to do as required be reared and released at Bingham on the Satsop.

When this was presented I blew a gasket and cleared the moon which I had to apologize ( rightly so ) for that. Then I leaned this, the Wynoochee has an escapement goal of 7168 and has been on average achieving less than a third of that with the lowest return in twenty years being 2006 of 696 adults.

Bottom line is even if ALH could do the payback mitigation the wild stock could not take the combined bay, tidewater, river harvest. Even with C&R inriver the added pressure by fishers would likely make a bad situation much worse. Damned if you do damned if you don't here and I think rather than do the blame game that just maybe the solution put forward R-6 Director Philips might be the only one.

Now that said it is not a silver bullet because the Satsop has not been making escapement either but I think that is a harvest driven issue that comanagers have not addressed.

Just for clarification all the Chehalis tidewater tribs are struggling with the failure to make Coho escapement. Hoquiam, Wishkah, Wynoochee are seriously distressed with the Satsop somewhat better off.

How about the Elk and Johns?

Larry's got a good mind. IF he comes up with an option, get it in writing. Not only the rearing/release but the fisheries. Maybe agree to the move if and only if there is rec fishery of Y days on the Satsop.

Oh hell better than writing he did a big public meeting at the college roll out the works. As to the tidewater tribs I do not know what to think. The Chehalis is making escapement but it is the basin above Fuller Hill propping it up. Bit of a mess.

Now your talkin! Increase Summers everywhere at the expense of Winters. But that would be too easy. Having fish return that you can at least fish for every day, with more daylight, and not battle weather and water conditions. Plus a better quality fish both fight and table fair. Very little competition with Wild fish. No brainer to me!

Future dam operating license renewal will happen. Not sure when that date is. That is the time to get consistent funding out of TCL. A utility that has consistently got off on the cheap on all there mitigation responsibilities at the fault of WDFW and the Corps.

As far as the Wynoochee is concerned both the Corps and Tacoma Power is concerned they have met every requirement placed upon the dam when built and power generation later on. That the Wynoochee suffered is undeniable but both ponied up but it was the WDG & WDF now WDFW that seriously screwed the pooch. With salmon it was WDF that did not require mitigation for salmon and WDG wanting to use Aberdeen Lake Hatchery rather than build a proper facility was a fiasco for the ages.

Now the Summerrun Steelhead bit is something that could be done. We have no wild Summerrun Steelies so genetics are not and issue. Timing is different so cross breeding is not an issue. Outside mitigation Coho cost a lot to rear Coho and Winter Steelhead and if instead of these programs the monies reared Summerrun and properly placed throughout the basin the economic return would be huge. Chinook are the same as freshwater time is limited take much less space in a hatchery and feed cost is minimal to 80 the pound release.

It takes a different view of how to utilize hatcheries without destroying the wild fish. Since hatcheries were placed under Fish Program harvest managers the system has just about collapsed and I doubt the harvest division of WDFD in Olympia has a clue on how to chart a different direction. All they know how to kill fish on paper.

Sad, isn't it?

Seems mitigation is set to fail. The dam is expected to displace so many wild fish, so they put in a hatchery to mitigate the loss. Then, people insist that wild fish continue to exist at good levels. Since hatchery fish could reduce their ability to survive, lets cut hatchery fish levels.

The mitigation did not fail. It could be done 100% wild brood & never reuse the returning mitigation adults but pass them up for zero loss to the system. The simple fact is that the STATE AGENCIES failed not the concept.

Fish utilized many generations in hatcheries evolve to their environment just as any creature does. If you do not continuously reuse the fish but natural brood one generation then you going to have some effect genetically but it is not measurable. It is time for pragmatism not extremism be it plant fish like hell everywhere to oh my god zero fish that utilized a hatchery. Both are ideas that have about zero validity in todays world, unless you do not want to fish. Then we have museum runs and no harvest. Simple choice really.

I remember folks being very upset that WDF denied the existence of Springers in the Wynoochee. So, no mitigation required.

It’d be nice having some hatchery springers nearby. Makes you wonder what the final year for natives was? I’d imagine they still held on after the dam was built. The canyons below the dam seem like they’d be great summer habitat for them. Cool, shady, and deep water even in mid summer.

Oh yeah CM it was the TU guys leading the Springer protection! DW actually stayed in his trailer guarding brood for the effort to help save them. I will have to let him fill in the blanks on what where. Why Region 6 staff under RWS did not require mitigation or recognize Nooch Springers is beyond me. My feeling was just as they refused to recognize Summer Chinook in the Chehalis because they would have to manage harvest for them it was the same for Nooch Springers. Staff just didn't want to be bothered.

Well, yeah. I remember when I was trying to get riverine sockeye recognized as existing and worth at least recognition. Nope. Interfered with making money on the other species.

Guarding the traps from poachers?? Wow.

Sockeye in there as well? Damn, I was born a few decades too late, haha