But those attitudes changed two years ago. With run numbers way down and the percentage of hatchery fish way up, biologists returned to the recycling program to boost fish numbers in the river and give anglers more chances to catch hatchery fish. These aren't the kind of recycled castoffs you put in the red plastic bin next to the curb on trash day. That's why anglers are so pleased when they see Pease appear. They go crazy.
Recycled fish have a hole punched in their left gill plate to denote their rerun status.
The fish are considered excess because they are above what is needed at the hatchery. The rest either go toward the recycling program, are given to Native American tribes to fulfill Oregon's treaty obligations or are sold to a seafood processor through an annual bidding process. No chinook from Cole Rivers have been sold or given away for treaty obligations so far this year. Staff writer Mark Freeman covers the outdoors for the Mail Tribune. Mail Tribune, Inc.