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Table 3. Numbers of anadromous salmonids released in Washington in 1987. Winter Steelhead 1,803,646 Steelhead Summer Steelhea 3,349,917 Fall hinook 139,359,630 Spring. Chinook 17,896,634 Coho 88,363,656 Chum 90,171,973 The Washington Department of Wildlife (WDW) manages the steelhead runs in Washington. The WDW raises smolts almost exclusively and more than 6 million are released annually. This stocking effort is mainly to increase harvestable numbers, not to rebuild natural or wild runs. The operational procedures of WDW hatcheries have created a separation between the run timing of hatchery produced winter steelhead and naturally produced winter steelhead. They are presently managed as separate runs. The early run consists primarily of domesticated hatchery stocks and the later run primarily wild stock. While wild steelhead broodstock are not normally used in WDW hatchery programs, some winter steelhead programs do utilize wild/natural fish. Some examples include ongoing programs on the Wynoochee and Skookumchuck Rivers (tributaries to the Chehalis system), the Nooksack River in northeastern Puget Sound and the Soleduck River on the north coast. Recently, wild/natural broodstock have also been used on the Humptulips, Satsop and Sauk Rivers. These programs have been a mixture of true supplementation and harvest augmentation. Unfortunately, the supplementation programs were not rigorously evaluated. The contribution of the hatchery supplementation to the overall return and especially to the spawning escapement was not determined. In areas where wild stock was not incorporated, the intent was to separate wild and hatchery fish. Escapement data for wild summer steelhead is less detailed although the Toutle, Wind and Wenatchee systems have shown favorable responses. Many WDW biologists believe that wild winter stocks are responding favorably to the current management practices. In the Kalama River, 58 percent of the total winter steelhead run consists of wild fish. The Elwha River, which is completely blocked by the Elwha Dam at River mile 5.3, averages only 14 percent wild -fish in the total .run. 9