Cowlitz Game & Anglers

Well the Salmon Guessers are at it again. Now they have decided the reason we have poor returns is due to the dreaded HATCHERY FISH ! 

Whereas in the past the preaching was “Native” fish are rough, tough & smart. Therefore they have superb survival characteristics compared to hatchery fish. Now we hear Hatchery fish overwhelm “Native” fish in search of food and shelter in the streams as they approach Smolt status.

The solution: stop allocating Winter Steelhead to our Coweeman Acclimation pond and cut the allocation to our So Fk Toutle Pond in half.

It seems every time we get a change in upper management of Salmonids in Olympia we get a new and exciting reason why Salmon returns are down & what we need to do about it. Now the story is Sea Lions may have slowed the eating of Jacks  in favor of eating adults so large Jack returns may not forecast a large adult return the next year. -So, where is the “may” data?

If you sit around drinking coffee long enough you can generate a new thought with accompanying supporting dreams that once on paper can satisfy the media, the management & the Greenies all at once.

Since way over 50% of Salmonid losses occur in the ocean a person might wonder what have ocean mortality studies shown. A breakthrough in that area might reveal a much more significant potential than stopping cows from peeing in the streams. (Last Thursday one Chinook was taken at Buoy 10).