The hatchery was a mitigation hatchery to fix the damage from the construction of the Hoover and Davis Dams. Sure, in decades perhaps things would have settled back, but my town is based on the promises of that Congressional Act. The native fish they are trying to reintroduce are the humpback and razorback chubs. One of the stupidest things I have ever done as Supervisor is visit the hatchery and “chip” (insert a microchip) into these baby chubs so that government can track them. They have less than a 1% survival rate. They spend millions of dollars on that. The stocking program is one of the few government programs that make money ($7 back for every $1 spent). That’s the one they wanted to end.
One percent sounds about right. On the Columbia, there’s an island where the terns nest. They take the detector out there and find thousands of chips in the sand and bird poop.