Thanks to everyone that contributed their opinion to my earlier discussion. I have tried to soak up as much information about this issue since I first learned about it, and I will say that the community on here has offered me plenty of insight into the inner workings of this lawsuit and its potential.

First off...

Like many folks in the sportfishing industry, I am pro-wild fish. I think they are one of the most beautiful finned creatures that we have in our waters and I treat them with the utmost respect. Initially, Wild Snoqualmie Steelhead was the cause of my fishing infatuation. Honestly, I get far more excited with the thought of releasing one healthy wild fish than I do at the thought of limiting on hatchery winter steelhead. I've tied fancy jigs, I've dropped plenty of cash on premium rods both fly and gear. I dream of trips to far off meccas, I plan my free time around fishing. I love fishing. I live for fishing. For many anglers, often times our sportfishing passion turns us into artists and romantics about the fish... but we also have to be realists.

The fact of the matter is, Wild Steelhead in Puget Sound are the victim of many factors... largest of which is poor habitat. The resource extraction and urban sprawl that is the side effect of 150 years of carelessness has been the doom of these fish. For the first hundred years of modern settlement, we shaved the hillsides bare of trees, we used our rivers as sluices for logs which scoured every redd, we dammed as we pleased and we diked whatever estuary that we fancied.

WE SCREWED UP PUGET SOUND. Unregulated pollution from the WWII industrial complex to win regardless of any cost. Suburban sprawl. Enough asphalt to fill Delaware. A sewage treatment system that never separated rainwater from raw waste in one of the rainiest places in the country (if ya didn't know... severe rain events cause a direct sewage outflow into Puget Sound & some rivers). It's almost like we tried to kill off these fish. Big problems. Only now we are trying to fix it. We pour millions into rehabilitation. We mitigate new development. We regulate forestry a bit. But fixing the residual effects of 150 years of habitat destruction is the elephant in the room no one wants to tranquilize. It won't come fast. It won't come cheap. It won't get the broad support needed once folks realize they will actually have to pay for it.

FACT: The state fish of Washington is the Steelhead... they deserve better.

They swim through Everett (you, yeah you... I know you were thinking about weed & feed on the lawn this weekend!)
They swim through Seattle (how much meth is cooked under the 1st Ave So. Bridge now?)
They swim through Wild Fish Conservancy HQ Duvall (dude... don't let your purebred poop anywhere in my watershed bro!)
They swim through Puyallup (barfed up scones)

FACT: There is no location on planet earth with robust stocks of Wild Steelhead in a major metropolitan area. Our steelhead swim through the city. 3 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE IN PUGET SOUND.

So the issue is complex. And we have conservation groups threatening litigation against the state. We know that the stray rate and intermingling rate for Chambers Creek stock/Wild Fish is low.

QUESTION: When does one catch the most downriver winter hatchery fish?
ANSWER: January/February
QUESTION: When does one catch the most downriver winter wild fish?
ANSWER: May/June

I'm not saying the WFC's concerns don't have merrit. What I am saying is that just because their lawsuit may be justified, the correct solution is to work with the State of Washington to produce a Hatchery Genetic Management Plan that will work.

I want some feedback on a few things still....

I don't understand why our Commission hasn't tackled this massive issue before it came to this.
I don't understand why DFW hasn't gone to the Legislature or made public this multi-million dollar problem.
I don't understand why more people aren't upset about the loss of this fishery.
I don't understand if this is more of a paperwork issue or whether it's the fact no one in Seattle can agree on anything.
I don't understand why we the taxpayers are letting attorneys bully us and bleed dry our cash-strapped DFW, which is a distraction on so many levels.
I don't understand why WFC isn't getting grants to do the scientific research to find a real solution.
I don't understand why people think that Wild Steelhead will flourish once hatchery fish are gone when we haven't already seen a huge positive impact from reduced hatchery plants.
I don't understand why people who have seen their favorite sportfishing opportunities killed in the past standing up this time.
I don't understand why more folks aren't getting involved.

We must fight to get the permits, we must fight to get better science and better management.

Puget Sound has so many complex issues that hinder the recovery of key species, yet sometimes jumping in with both feet on a solution that is arguable and shaky at best is not wise.

If you sit back for a moment, think about how the act of fishing has benefited your life overall, think about your children, and think about never being able to fish for steelhead again in Puget Sound. That is the threat. Do you ever want to share that joy with your kids? If you close the hatcheries now, you will never see the day when we master a thriving wild fish population and a responsible hatchery program. If you shudder our steelhead hatcheries... they will never reopen. ONCE YOU LOSE IT YOU WILL NEVER NEVER NEVER GET IT BACK.

When you look back through the history of wild steelhead in the Puget Sound area, wild steelhead returned every month of the year. Now they are concentrated in a small portion of the year.

Wild steelhead, as Jerry said, returned 12 months of the year.
Wild steelhead used to spawn at least January-July, and maybe even wider
In places where they are abundant, wild steelhead have 50-80+% repeat spawners instead of next to nothing.
Wild steelhead, in PS, used to have significant numbers of age-1 smolts. Canadian research has shown that the same river produces numerically more smolts if they are age-1 than if age-2 and more smolts if they are age-2 than if age-3, and so on.

We have taken a fish that had a successful life history pattern and removed all the parts we found inconvenient. Kill off the earlies so we can catch chum and hatchery steelies, kill off the lates so we can fish springers, kill off the repeat spawners so we can kill them this year, and so on.

Stelhead are just too inconvenient to have around; they make management way too difficult.

If freshwater habitat was the primary problem, steelhead stocks would be doing better in Puget Sound streams with less development and degradation. They are not, stocks are down uniformly across all streams. If freshwater habitat was the primary problem, returning hatchery steelhead would fill Puget Sound rivers each year as they used to. They do not, they dont survive the marine environment in numbers to justify the cost of producing them.

That being said, I do think that resposible hatchery supplementation can occur without preventing wild fish recovery. However the speculative arguments that we should maintain hatchery programs simply because the freshwater habitat is incapable of supporting wild populations anymore lack sufficient science to support that conclusion. Clearly, the marine environment is the primary problem affecting both hatchery and wild steelhead in Puget Sound.

I find it odd that freshwater habitat continues to get blamed for why steelhead won't recover.

Anadromous cutthroat and anadromous native char seem to be rebounding pretty well. They spawn and rear in freshwater areas similar to steelhead and yet the are increasing. But, they don't have the take that steelhead do. And, they manage to do this in the horribly polluted and dieing Puget Sound.

Steelhead are telling us, by their lack of recovery, that we have not dealt with the issues that are keeping them down. The other species, whose life histories are similar to steelhead, are showing what works.

I don't really have an agenda or angle... I just don't want to see the death of our fisheries if we are not 100% positive that we will get the results we need.

Thanks for that, Carcassman. I was just thinking along the exact same lines. I find myself wondering all the time why steelhead don't seem to respond to protections the way other, similar species have. It seems as if there is some critical factor in their survival that we either don't understand or can't fix.

Is it freshwater habitat? Maybe, but I would echo Carcassman's questions above.

Is it overharvest? Probably not. Wild steelhead retention has been outlawed nearly everywhere for quite a while now, and there is very little commercial harvest on them (compared to what salmon are subjected to, at least). Sportfishing is probably a factor, but it hardly seems realistic to consider it a major limiting factor.

Is it genetic pollution by hatchery fish? Maybe, but wouldn't one have to ask how hatchery salmon, much larger numbers of whom likely spawn with their wild counterparts, haven't had a similarly devastating effect on wild salmon? At any rate, I think overharvest is the key limitation for salmon, as a worldwide food fish in high demand.

Is it dams? Maybe in some cases, but certainly not all. Systems without dams have struggled to recover wild steelhead as well.

Predation? Again, I would ask why other species wouldn't be impacted to the same degree, but I guess I can imagine that since their smolt outmigration timing coincides with the major shorebird migrations in our region, there might be a unique factor there. I kind of doubt it....

As milt roe said, it seems clear that something critical to steelhead survival in the marine environment is badly broken. I wonder whether we should pinpoint Puget Sound specifically as the compromised area, because sea run cutthroat, who seem to have a similar life history to steelhead, are doing fairly well throughout the sound.

Whatever it is, there seems to be something to which steelhead are far more sensitive than other salmonids that is limiting their recovery. Hopefully, we can figure out what that is. Then, we have to hope it's something we can reverse.

Whatever the case, at a time when budget restrictions are already crippling our DFW, it hardly seems like suing them (the ones who SHOULD have the most biologists trying to find the key to steelhead recovery) will do anything to assure the long term survival of wild steelhead. A saying about cutting one's nose off to spite his face comes to mind....

Members of the 63rd Legislature 2013-2014

The most important legislators to contact are from district 21, 22, 1, 2, 25-29, 23, 35, 30-48. A simple, short and to the point email to each of these legislators will go a long way.

Name E-mail District Position Party
Senator Rosemary McAuliffe rosemary.mcauliffe@leg.wa.gov District 1 0 D
Rep. Derek Stanford derek.stanford@leg.wa.gov District 1 1 D
Rep. Luis Moscoso luis.moscoso@leg.wa.gov District 1 2 D
Senator Randi Becker randi.becker@leg.wa.gov District 2 0 R
Rep. Graham Hunt graham.hunt@leg.wa.gov District 2 1 R
Rep. J.T. Wilcox jt.wilcox@leg.wa.gov District 2 2 R
Senator Andy Billig andy.billig@leg.wa.gov District 3 0 D
Rep. Marcus Riccelli marcus.riccelli@leg.wa.gov District 3 1 D
Rep. Timm Ormsby timm.ormsby@leg.wa.gov District 3 2 D
Senator Mike Padden mike.padden@leg.wa.gov District 4 0 R
Rep. Leonard Christian leonard.christian@leg.wa.gov District 4 1 R
Rep. Matt Shea matt.shea@leg.wa.gov District 4 2 R
Senator Mark Mullet mark.mullet@leg.wa.gov District 5 0 D
Rep. Jay Rodne jay.rodne@leg.wa.gov District 5 1 R
Rep. Chad Magendanz chad.magendanz@leg.wa.gov District 5 2 R
Senator Michael Baumgartner michael.baumgartner@leg.wa.gov District 6 0 R
Rep. Kevin Parker kevin.parker@leg.wa.gov District 6 1 R
Rep. Jeff Holy jeff.holy@leg.wa.gov District 6 2 R
Senator Brian Dansel brian.dansel@leg.wa.gov District 7 0 R
Rep. Shelly Short shelly.short@leg.wa.gov District 7 1 R
Rep. Joel Kretz joel.kretz@leg.wa.gov District 7 2 R
Senator Sharon Brown sharon.brown@leg.wa.gov District 8 0 R
Rep. Brad Klippert brad.klippert@leg.wa.gov District 8 1 R
Rep. Larry Haler larry.haler@leg.wa.gov District 8 2 R
Senator Mark Schoesler mark.schoesler@leg.wa.gov District 9 0 R
Rep. Susan Fagan susan.fagan@leg.wa.gov District 9 1 R
Rep. Joe Schmick joe.schmick@leg.wa.gov District 9 2 R
Senator Barbara Bailey barbara.bailey@leg.wa.gov District 10 0 R
Rep. Norma Smith norma.smith@leg.wa.gov District 10 1 R
Rep. Dave Hayes dave.hayes@leg.wa.gov District 10 2 R
Senator Bob Hasegawa bob.hasegawa@leg.wa.gov District 11 0 D
Rep. Zack Hudgins zack.hudgins@leg.wa.gov District 11 1 D
Rep. Steve Bergquist steve.bergquist@leg.wa.gov District 11 2 D
Senator Linda Evans Parlette linda.parlette@leg.wa.gov District 12 0 R
Rep. Cary Condotta cary.condotta@leg.wa.gov District 12 1 R
Rep. Brad Hawkins brad.hawkins@leg.wa.gov District 12 2 R
Senator Janéa Holmquist Newbry janea.holmquistnewbry@leg.wa.gov District 13 0 R
Rep. Judy Warnick judy.warnick@leg.wa.gov District 13 1 R
Rep. Matt Manweller matt.manweller@leg.wa.gov District 13 2 R
Senator Curtis King curtis.king@leg.wa.gov District 14 0 R
Rep. Norm Johnson norm.johnson@leg.wa.gov District 14 1 R
Rep. Charles Ross charles.ross@leg.wa.gov District 14 2 R
Senator Jim Honeyford jim.honeyford@leg.wa.gov District 15 0 R
Rep. Bruce Chandler bruce.chandler@leg.wa.gov District 15 1 R
Rep. David Taylor david.taylor@leg.wa.gov District 15 2 R
Senator Mike Hewitt mike.hewitt@leg.wa.gov District 16 0 R
Rep. Maureen Walsh maureen.walsh@leg.wa.gov District 16 1 R
Rep. Terry Nealey terry.nealey@leg.wa.gov District 16 2 R
Senator Don Benton don.benton@leg.wa.gov District 17 0 R
Rep. Monica Stonier monica.stonier@leg.wa.gov District 17 1 D
Rep. Paul Harris paul.harris@leg.wa.gov District 17 2 R
Senator Ann Rivers ann.rivers@leg.wa.gov District 18 0 R
Rep. Brandon Vick brandon.vick@leg.wa.gov District 18 1 R
Rep. Liz Pike liz.pike@leg.wa.gov District 18 2 R
Senator Brian Hatfield brian.hatfield@leg.wa.gov District 19 0 D
Rep. Dean Takko dean.takko@leg.wa.gov District 19 1 D
Rep. Brian Blake brian.blake@leg.wa.gov District 19 2 D
Senator John Braun john.braun@leg.wa.gov District 20 0 R
Rep. Richard DeBolt richard.debolt@leg.wa.gov District 20 1 R
Rep. Ed Orcutt ed.orcutt@leg.wa.gov District 20 2 R
Senator Marko Liias marko.liias@leg.wa.gov District 21 0 D
Rep. Mary Helen Roberts maryhelen.roberts@leg.wa.gov District 21 1 D
Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self lillian.ortiz-self@leg.wa.gov District 21 2 D
Senator Karen Fraser karen.fraser@leg.wa.gov District 22 0 D
Rep. Chris Reykdal chris.reykdal@leg.wa.gov District 22 1 D
Rep. Sam Hunt sam.hunt@leg.wa.gov District 22 2 D
Senator Christine Rolfes christine.rolfes@leg.wa.gov District 23 0 D
Rep. Sherry Appleton sherry.appleton@leg.wa.gov District 23 1 D
Rep. Drew Hansen drew.hansen@leg.wa.gov District 23 2 D
Senator James Hargrove jim.hargrove@leg.wa.gov District 24 0 D
Rep. Kevin Van De Wege kevin.vandewege@leg.wa.gov District 24 1 D
Rep. Steve Tharinger steve.tharinger@leg.wa.gov District 24 2 D
Senator Bruce Dammeier bruce.dammeier@leg.wa.gov District 25 0 R
Rep. Dawn Morrell dawn.morrell@leg.wa.gov District 25 1 D
Rep. Hans Zeiger hans.zeiger@leg.wa.gov District 25 2 R
Senator Jan Angel jan.angel@leg.wa.gov District 26 0 R
Rep. Jesse Young jesse.young@leg.wa.gov District 26 1 R
Rep. Larry Seaquist larry.seaquist@leg.wa.gov District 26 2 D
Senator Jeannie Darneille j.darneille@leg.wa.gov District 27 0 D
Rep. Laurie Jinkins laurie.jinkins@leg.wa.gov District 27 1 D
Rep. Jake Fey jake.fey@leg.wa.gov District 27 2 D
Senator Steve O'Ban steve.o'ban@leg.wa.gov District 28 0 R
Rep. Dick Muri dick.muri@leg.wa.gov District 28 1 R
Rep. Tami Green tami.green@leg.wa.gov District 28 2 D
Senator Steve Conway steve.conway@leg.wa.gov District 29 0 D
Rep. David Sawyer david.sawyer@leg.wa.gov District 29 1 D
Rep. Steve Kirby steve.kirby@leg.wa.gov District 29 2 D
Senator Tracey Eide tracey.eide@leg.wa.gov District 30 0 D
Rep. Linda Kochmar linda.kochmar@leg.wa.gov District 30 1 R
Rep. Roger Freeman roger.freeman@leg.wa.gov District 30 2 D
Senator Pam Roach pam.roach@leg.wa.gov District 31 0 R
Rep. Cathy Dahlquist cathy.dahlquist@leg.wa.gov District 31 1 R
Rep. Christopher Hurst christopher.hurst@leg.wa.gov District 31 2 D
Senator Maralyn Chase maralyn.chase@leg.wa.gov District 32 0 D
Rep. Cindy Ryu cindy.ryu@leg.wa.gov District 32 1 D
Rep. Ruth Kagi ruth.kagi@leg.wa.gov District 32 2 D
Senator Karen Keiser karen.keiser@leg.wa.gov District 33 0 D
Rep. Tina Orwall tina.orwall@leg.wa.gov District 33 1 D
Rep. Mia Gregerson mia.gregerson@leg.wa.gov District 33 2 D
Senator Sharon Nelson sharon.nelson@leg.wa.gov District 34 0 D
Rep. Eileen Cody eileen.cody@leg.wa.gov District 34 1 D
Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon joe.fitzgibbon@leg.wa.gov District 34 2 D
Senator Tim Sheldon timothy.sheldon@leg.wa.gov District 35 0 D
Rep. Kathy Haigh kathy.haigh@leg.wa.gov District 35 1 D
Rep. Drew MacEwen drew.macewen@leg.wa.gov District 35 2 R
Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles jeanne.kohl-welles@leg.wa.gov District 36 0 D
Rep. Reuven Carlyle reuven.carlyle@leg.wa.gov District 36 1 D
Rep. Gael Tarleton gael.tarleton@leg.wa.gov District 36 2 D
Senator Adam Kline adam.kline@leg.wa.gov District 37 0 D
Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos sharontomiko.santos@leg.wa.gov District 37 1 D
Rep. Eric Pettigrew eric.pettigrew@leg.wa.gov District 37 2 D
Senator John McCoy john.mccoy@leg.wa.gov District 38 0 D
Rep. June Robinson june.robinson@leg.wa.gov District 38 1 D
Rep. Mike Sells mike.sells@leg.wa.gov District 38 2 D
Senator Kirk Pearson kirk.pearson@leg.wa.gov District 39 0 R
Rep. Dan Kristiansen dan.kristiansen@leg.wa.gov District 39 1 R
Rep. Elizabeth Scott elizabeth.scott@leg.wa.gov District 39 2 R
Senator Kevin Ranker kevin.ranker@leg.wa.gov District 40 0 D
Rep. Kristine Lytton kristine.lytton@leg.wa.gov District 40 1 D
Rep. Jeff Morris jeff.morris@leg.wa.gov District 40 2 D
Senator Steve Litzow steve.litzow@leg.wa.gov District 41 0 R
Rep. Tana Senn tana.senn@leg.wa.gov District 41 1 D
Rep. Judy Clibborn judy.clibborn@leg.wa.gov District 41 2 D
Senator Doug Ericksen doug.ericksen@leg.wa.gov District 42 0 R
Rep. Jason Overstreet jason.overstreet@leg.wa.gov District 42 1 R
Rep. Vincent Buys vincent.buys@leg.wa.gov District 42 2 R
Senator Jamie Pedersen jamie.pedersen@leg.wa.gov District 43 0 D
Rep. Brady Walkinshaw brady.walkinshaw@leg.wa.gov District 43 1 D
Rep. Frank Chopp frank.chopp@leg.wa.gov District 43 2 D
Senator Steve Hobbs steve.hobbs@leg.wa.gov District 44 0 D
Rep. Hans Dunshee hans.dunshee@leg.wa.gov District 44 1 D
Rep. Mike Hope mike.hope@leg.wa.gov District 44 2 R
Senator Andy Hill andy.hill@leg.wa.gov District 45 0 R
Rep. Roger Goodman roger.goodman@leg.wa.gov District 45 1 D
Rep. Larry Springer larry.springer@leg.wa.gov District 45 2 D
Senator David Frockt david.frockt@leg.wa.gov District 46 0 D
Rep. Gerry Pollet gerry.pollet@leg.wa.gov District 46 1 D
Rep. Jessyn Farrell jessyn.farrell@leg.wa.gov District 46 2 D
Senator Joe Fain joe.fain@leg.wa.gov District 47 0 R
Rep. Mark Hargrove mark.hargrove@leg.wa.gov District 47 1 R
Rep. Pat Sullivan pat.sullivan@leg.wa.gov District 47 2 D
Senator Rodney Tom rodney.tom@leg.wa.gov District 48 0 D
Rep. Ross Hunter ross.hunter@leg.wa.gov District 48 1 D
Rep. Cyrus Habib cyrus.habib@leg.wa.gov District 48 2 D
Senator Annette Cleveland annette.cleveland@leg.wa.gov District 49 0 D
Rep. Sharon Wylie sharon.wylie@leg.wa.gov District 49 1 D
Rep. Jim Moeller jim.moeller@leg.wa.gov District 49 2 D

Ding ding ding we have winner!

Close it. Poach it. And soon enough the vocal pain in the ass minority known as steel headers will be a thing of the past paving the way for politicians to line their pockets while [Bleeeeep!] up everything in their path.

SNAFU.

Make no mistake about it. Restoring healthy wild steelhead runs is not a goal of any gov agency. Selling licenses and sleds and gas are.

Steelheaders simply can't afford to buy politicians so were [Bleeeeep!].

The other species life histories are similar but are different in one very important aspect, the time spent in the ocean. The link below is to an article that was in the Osprey Newsletter, issue No. 75, May 2013. The entire issue is not available online, it has other interesting articles related to steelhead, but this article is on line through the NOAA SWFSC library. I am biased but I think it offers insight into why steelhead in Puget Sound are not doing well.

From the article; "The bottom line is that the North Pacific Ocean is crucial habitat for steelhead, and climate change and acidification threats to habitat in the ocean may become as great as those in our most imperiled streams."

Steelhead and Climate Change

people have to understand something...


all this talk about how our fish runs were 100 years ago, and trying to get them back to what they "used to be", well, they overlook, ignore, or just flat out dont think..

the only way to get something to be what it was, is to return it to the state of which is was when it was...

so if you want runs to be what they were in say 1890, you will need to revert everything back to what it was in 1890...

get rid of the cars, the people, the houses, the roads, the boats, the other people in the world that want to eat fish, airplanes, airports, cities, ect...

basically, restoring something to what it was 100 years ago, is impossible, and will never happen..

we have to work with what we have now, and maintain it... the problem is, is that people waited till there was nothing left, to try to maintain it, and thats the problem...

if you wait until the last minute to do something, you likely will lose 90 percent of the time... just look, weve already lost, because we waited too long to do anything about it...

fact is, things will never be what they were 100 years ago, because we are a different world than we were 100 years ago...

If that is the case, I think you are right that steelhead are greatly affected by the ocean, then why are folks constantly telling us that the freshwater habitat is in the toilet?

Is it because by saying so they can control land-use activities while there isn't much that locals can do about the ocean?

WHETHER WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE RUNS OR CONSERVATION SIDE
I HAVE TWO HUGE PROBLEMS WHEN READING THE POSTS ON THIS SITE AND ARGUMENTS THAT FOLLOW THE POSTS-
1. NO ONE EVER BRINGS UP THE FING COMMERCIAL GUYS!
2. NO ONE EVER BRINGS UP THE FING COMMERCIAL GUYS ESPECIALLY THE TWRALERS.

WE HAVE DEPLETED OCEAN STOCKS BY OVER 92 PERCENT.

AND FINALLY FACE IT GENTLEMEN WE ARE SCREWED HERE ON THE PUGET SOUND AND THE COAST IS NEXT

I think we can all agree that there has been lost habitat both in our freshwater and in our marine areas. Why are smolts not making it out of Puget Sound? Once we solve that problem, I think we will be on the road to recovery.

one of the problems could be the fact that the storm drains that come out of Seattle that are under water out in Elliot bay pump out the same amount of oil that the Valdez dumped, every 2 years, continuously..

so if 20+ years later, Prince William is still screwed up from that 1 spill, how can the PS water be good water, when roughly 10 spills of the same size have happened in the last 20 years? its not good water, and is obviously a huge problem that noone addresses..

watch this, and you will see what i am talking about..

http://video.pbs.org/video/1114515379/

Did you know that the main method of sewage disposal in Venice Italy is the current and tides? Now go Google Earth Venice's geography and tell me how well that works. Has anyone here ever smelled Venice? Now Google Earth Puget Sound and break out your multiplication tables.

Infection, disease, phosphates, herbicides, pesticides, oil / gas, habit loss, pharmaceuticals and predation all play a part in the decline, but Geography is the rug that ties the room together. Puget Sound is a cistern that has been cut and hacked to fit our needs, including all of the major lower and upper watersheds. That's why coastal Oregon, Washington, BC and Alaska runs are still healthy. Open Ocean water turn over, lack of major development and all of the nasties that come with it. Outside of Portland, Pugetropolis and Vancouver BC, there ain't bubkiss along coastal PNW for major population centers. It's not that hard to figure out and yes, its too late for PS. By biology standards, Steelhead are the proverbial Canary in the Coal Mine. The poor fish as playing Russian Roulette with an Auto. IMO - just being a realist.

A few million pinks diagree with your assessment. We need to spend some money to evaluate the survival bottlenecks in Puget Sound. Time to put aside the speculations and figure it out, opinions are no substitute for science. There is plenty of money out there for restoration and mitigation. Put some of that toward research.

WN1A -
Nice article; had read it when it came out.

In the article in mentioned that the older/larger groups of steelhead could be more effected by climate changes. Thought you might be interested in what is being seen on the Skagit.

Since the mid-1990s the portion of any steelhead brood year returning as 3-salt fish as compared to the 2-salt has been much lower (maybe 1/2) of that seen during the period from late 1970s into the early 1990s. There has been even a larger drop of in the repeat spawner rate.

The last a couple of return years have seen a age structures typically of what was seen in that earlier period. 55% two-salts and 45% 3-salts and repeat spawner rates of 15% up from less than 5%. A sign that at the Skagit fish are finding better ocean conditions????

Milt Roe -

While I agree that more research needs to be done including in Sound mortalities not sure that poor in sound survival accounts for all or even the majority the poor returns seen in the Sound as a whole. See the information above on the Skagit steelhead age structure changes. Looks to me that the longer the fish are in the ocean the worst they do; would indicate that there are survival issues long after the fish leave the Sound.

Curt

One of the problems in the ocean is that steelhead apparently eat a lot of plastic, which ends up killing them. Fits what Smalma said, the longer they are out there eating plastics.

We could, of course, clean up our act and not dispose of plastics as we do. nah, that's a non-starter.

Smalma, interesting observations about recent Skagit steelhead returns. After some discussions with Kate her thoughts are that age structure is related to ocean conditions. Russian biologists believe that repeat spawner rate is related to relative freshwater productivity and she tends to agree. The recent age structure being similar to that of the 1970s probably doesn't mean they are finding better ocean conditions, more likely poorer conditions and more competition from pinks and hatchery steelhead. Because time of return is in part determined by growth in the salt, in poor growth conditions it might take an extra year for many of the fish to reach the stage of return. The extra year in the ocean also mean higher mortality. In the 1970s steelhead populations were much higher and the fish would have been competing with each other for food so one might expect more 3 salt fish in the return. The dramatic change in ocean conditions in the early 80s and freshwater habitat losses reduced the population of steelhead and at the same time pink and chum populations were lower. It might have been the case that low populations meant less competition for food so that even though ocean conditions were not good a higher portion of the steelhead matured after two years in the salt. In recent years pink populations, particularly Russian pinks, which compete with steelhead have been high. In addition hatchery steelhead which compete with wild fish, at least for the first year in the salt if not longer, are being released at high numbers. The change in the age ratio might mean Skagit fish are finding better ocean conditions but more likely it is the opposite case.

One can make similar arguments about the freshwater life history stages and relative productivity to explain the repeat spawner rates. In both cases to know what is happening requires more ocean research and that is not happening now and probably not for some time in the future.

.