Just read the WDFW forecast for fish numbers returning this fall. Bad news for most of us, with a couple of bright spots. When reading about coho returns for the lower Columbia, I thought it was kind of interesting that they mentioned that this is the first year all the hatchery coho have clipped adipose fins(returning fish). So of course every fish without a clipped fin is now considered 'wild', even though hatcheries have been pumping out coho for 70+ years. What in the hell is 'wild' anymore??? They may have all their fins attached, but you can't tell me very many of these coho are actually 'wild'. Just thought I'd stir it up a little....

I consider any unclipped fish as a "wild" one. Whereas a "native" is a pure strain. The better question is how can we tell them part without hiring a geneticist?

what does it really matter what they or we call them. if it has taken but only 70 years for those fishes genetics to change than couldn't they change again in another 70 years if we left the "wild" ones alone and then they would be "native"

SideSlider, does "leaving them alone" mean destroying all hatcheries and ending all hatchery smolt plants?

slider ,
it is unfortunate, but seventy more years wont do the trick. It has taken thousands of years for these salmon to evolve . A broad variety in species can only occur through time, and alot of it. ( i.e. dominant traits create different variety of fish )

The one thing I can tell you after many years of catching both. When you hook up with a wild fish its usually out of the water like a rocket. Sure, some of the hatchery fish jump and raise hell but its a pretty poor show compaired to the real deal. In addition to not being clipped, they seem to retain more weight coming up the river and are just a better looking fish.

Hohwaiian, it seems to me that if we stopped all hatchery production and all harvest by everyone. that the fish would come back to numbers that we could not even fathom and would give the scientist the numbers that these watershed could really handle. on the genetics thing these fish stray and there genetics are very widespread and have taken tens of thousands of years to get to the point that they have made it to today. it is going to take alot longer than 70years to make a significant change in there "genetics"

Slider, Yes you may be right that there may not be too many "wild" fish left. However, if we would like to at least try and perpetuate the natural fish runs we need to let the unclipped "wild" fish go. These are the fish that have proven genetic traits that have shown us that they (at least their parents) can productively reproduce in the wild. It is a proven fact that hatchery reared fish have a very poor reproductive success rates, so it really makes sense to me that whe should mark these fish and if there is any fishery that is to be allowed it should be on the hatchery fish alone.

just my thoughts,

Duke