Great! Just great!

The dept is just hoping enough escaped so they start Atlantic salmon license drive...bet that'd be a better earner than a record shattering flounder

It'll probably sell more licenses than the record blue shark announcement too!

"Hey Nevis, this lookin like an Ayetlantuck Shalmon to you?"

"Yessm, they all Atelantucks round here. I hear it on da radio."

Years ago, 15ish, a bunch got free and according to Fisheries they were all sterile fish and had no way to spawn with our local stocks. I noticed nothing of the sort was mentioned in the current article, is this not the case anymore? At that time I watched a guy land a nice size one about thirty to forty miles up on the main Nooksack during the Coho season. Being these are so close to the Nooksack, I wonder how many will head that direction again?

a ton went into the Green too, there is still signs along the river to kill and report them....

Seattle Times headline prediction for 2020:

"Changes in Pacific Salmon Behavior and Appearance is a Mystery for Washington Fish Biologists"

They have great difficulty in labs to successfully cross Atlantic and Pacific salmon. With all the efforts over the last 150 years or so to introduce Atlantics on the Pacific Coast I don't believe there is a single established population. A few have been reported to have successfully spawned, in BC I think. But it came to nothing.

These highly domesticated Atlantics are probably the least reproductively competent cultured salmonid. Most, even, don't appear to have been very successful at feeding in the wild as the majority I have seen are rather thin.

Funny though, the number of Atlantic Salmon in the north puget sound right now may be greater than the pinks.

And they'll both probably smoke up just fine.

Can't wait to see the first boot Atlantic pic online, bet it'll be epic with a spinning reel on a casting rod in the background next a sixer of natty ice.

Farmed atlantic salmon: the McDonalds of the ocean

So how many nw fish will be impacted by this great escape, when they have been treated for disease (and they were already in the water anyway),don't reproduce well if at all, and have a low survival rate,

Versus

What is the mortality rate of gillnets

And

How much money will "those that are damaged" sue for and win based on hypothetical damages.

They directly compete with commercially harvested fish in the marketplace. They are generally less expensive, more available, at consistent sizes, always "fresh" (no real season). They are an economic competitor with netters.

Interestingly, at least when I was involved, Europeans preferred AS, even farmed, over Pacifics-even wilds.

the netters can get way more per pound with Atlantics than Chum or Pink meat...

The netters don't care about the meat, the money is in the eggs

I'd love to help out catching them. I caught several back in the nineties when steelhead fishing. Of course, the Skagit was open back then...

Good point about the rivers. The rivers are closed, or will be when they come in. And yet, we want them removed. Interesting management conundrum. We'll see how they respond.....

There was an escape of about 18,000 Atlantic salmon in the Cypress Island area in 1995 or 96. A friend of mine caught 16 of them in the Skagit River that summer. If only the Skagit were open this summer . . .