The average size of salmon caught by either recreational or commercial fishers has gone down over the years. Turns out that if people keep the largest fish those big boys and girls don't make it back home to make the next generation of big hogs. Plus, the longer those fish stay in the ocean the more chance they'll have of running into a net, so the later age classes are on the decline.
The demise of the Columbia June hogs is horrible and makes me sad. I saw a report from an old timer who said that those elegant fish were coming back up and bumping their noses into Grand Coulee for 6 years after it cut off access to upriver spawning habitat. Crazy that they built that thing without fish passage, but I guess times were different then. I hope we can preserve what still remains.
Best,