apex
2/23/2021 9:07:49 AMWas your kokanee adipose fin clipped?
Yakhusker
2/23/2021 9:28:52 AMNo it wasn’t. Although the fish checker took the head and waved the magic wand over it to find a micro chip it. Which tells me there are many “native” kokes that truly aren’t.
Guitarfish
2/24/2021 12:10:54 PMI think the number was 3 this year for me, of unclipped coho out of Shilshole that had the chip. We also see unclipped salmon with the chip pretty regularly in the commercial trawl salmon bycatch. Clipping the fin on a 2-5" smolt is a tricky business and it should not be surprising that many of them get missed. Not to mention, some hatcheries had entire year classes that did not get clipped, either intentionally or not. For example, after the Elwah dams were removed, most Elwah hatchery chinook were intentionally not clipped, to ensure they were released in the sport fishery. But, until we come up with a better way of quickly identifying wild fish while still in the water so they can be safely released, it is all we have..