Slightly confused on this brood stock thing as well so let me check the math.

1) A caught and killed returning "Brood Stock" Steelhead = zero smolts

2) A caught and released or escaped Brood Stock Steelhead= smolts but bad strain either by breading with wild fish naturally or return to hatchery to be spawned.

3) The taking of that Wild Fish and then turning it into a hatchery fish= smolts that will return for kill= zero smolt or bad strain.

4) An escaped or caught and released "correctly" as in (your not a total Tool) "wild" Steelhead/ that spawns with another wild Steelhead=spawning quality smolts and then adult returning to the ocean after spawn hopefully to spawn several times after that.

How is taking wild fish for brood stock good for Steelhead numbers again I'm confused?

Number (1) scenario is a no brain, dead fish. If number (2) and (3) are correct then we are not only contaminating the river but also killing its future by using a wild fish to do that with. (4) seems like the best bet for Steelhead and future of Steelhead.

I'm not against brood-stock at this point and no disrespect to the great people who work on this Snider program I'm just a bit confused as to how it works for the future of Steelhead.