It seems that hatchery fish-springs in particular- do not get as big as their wild counterparts.
Over the past couple of years, for example i haven't caught a hatchery spring any bigger than 12 lbs. Most, if not all big fish i see/catch are wild.
Does anyone know why this is? Maybe its just me.

Nah... it depends on the stock!
There was a LOT of 35/40 pound hatchery fish this year!

Almost all the tyees I saw this year were hatchery.

I had a chat with a guy i was working with at the nitnat once and he tried to tell me that hatch fish were not inferior. As i see it hatcheries give weaker fish the chance to reproduce making genetically inferior fish. They wouldnt reporduce in a natural setting.

That same trip we seined a ton of springs (maybe 1000 +) and the biggest was a 40ish clipped hatch although that run is pretty much all hatch clones. The average was maybe 18-22 ish lbs. The next day we seined the sarita near bamfield which doesnt have as much of a hatch influence and the fish were much larger. 25ish average and fish over 40.

I guess it all comes back to what Charlie said, it just depends on the stock.
I've never personally seen a hatchery fish bigger than 20lbs. (I fish the vic waterfront/flats)

Winner of VI Classic Derby, 40 lbs, was hatchery, and I think others in the top 5 were too. In Sooke anyway, my recollection is that more often than not the 20 lb plus salmon I've caught are hatchery....but maybe my fishing technique targets genetically inferior fish for some reason.

"As i see it hatcheries give weaker fish the chance to reproduce making genetically inferior fish. They wouldnt reporduce in a natural setting." I don't think that's true. If a spring happens to get caught in SSES's seine net, how does that make it genetically inferior? And why would it not have reproduced naturally if left in the river? All the hatchery does is make sure the offspring of that particular fish and the 100 or so others caught have a much higher chance of survival, ensuring that at minimum there will be springs coming out of the river that year.

I understand the arguments that pond-raised fish don't compete for food and are in a controlled environment, so generations of hatchery born fish could affect their genetics and evolution. That may be true, I don't know...but the fish used for broodstock will be a mix of wild and hatchery born, and should not be any weaker than what else is in the river.

What makes you think hatchery fish dont reproduce naturally and are smaller Kelly? Look at the Columbia river system this year... Huge fish and Tons of them (500,000+ steelhead so far....). Looks like they arent so weak after all and are surviving in record numbers. Also most of those fish you think are "wild" have hatchery fish in their lineage anyways. Its proven that hatchery fish do reproduce naturally in our local rivers.

Genetics = Strength in survivability of the species:
“Each individual stock of salmon is important. A Chinook salmon from one river may be quite different genetically from a Chinook of another river. This vast genetic diversity has allowed salmon to survive for two million years by helping them adapt to a specific local watershed or adjust to a changing one. They have endured floods and droughts, disease, volcanic eruptions, and even ice ages. Every stock lost to extinction is a loss of important genetic information, leaving the remaining fish less able to survive.” Salmon are no different from any other species in this respect; in breeding, is not a good thing. Hatcheries did make that mistake years ago. “but the fish used for broodstock will be a mix of wild and hatchery born, and should not be any weaker than what else is in the river” - is correct. In addition, hatcheries often transport different stocks to each other.

Size = Age:
“The size of a salmon is usually related to its age. Chinook can live up to nine years, the longest, which is why some Chinook can grow to over 100 pounds. Cutthroat, which live longer than pinks, are smaller because they live in less productive areas of the watershed.” Size is also relative to where the “stock” originates, as different stocks migrate to different areas of the ocean. The “upper” Columbia stocks migrate and feed in different areas than the “lower” Columbia, which also migrate to different areas than Fraser stocks. The different areas provide a different abundance of food and food sources. The more food… larger fish.

The majority of the returning runs consist of three and four year olds. That is why you have all the “cookie cutters”. They are the same stock leaving, feeding, and returning to the same area. It doesn’t really make any difference if they are hatchery or not. It did years ago, but not in recent years!

BTW… a note on hatchery fish! That 75% of the salmon are U.S. bound thing. From the south end of VCI to Tofino, those are “lower” Columbia and Puget Sound stocks. They are known to be up to 90% hatchery, clipped or unclipped!

Well said, thanks for the post Charlie.

I am by no means a genetic expert but have taken a few genetic courses in Uni.This is all just opinion not facts as i havent researched it. I agree with charlie 100% saying there is genetic differences in different runs but i also think there is alot of diversity within certain runs.

Nature is all about survival of the fittest. Darwins theory is that animals with favourable traits will survive the most and reproduce the most passing on their favourable traits. In this case of salmon that means the strongest will survive while the weaker genes are passed less frequently.

When a hatchery arrives it allows the weaker fish with less favourable traits to reporoduce in a non natural setting and their genes can be passed on. The fry that would normally die in a natural setting are also givin the chance to survive in a non natural setting and many that would normally die get to reproduce. Over generations this begins to affect the genetic makeup of a run and the diversity becomes limited. More "cookie cutters" and a smaller avg size.

Sure some hatch fish reproduce naturally and this makes it impossible to tell which is wild and which is hatch on rivers with hatcheries but overall it still has the same effect.Look at hatch coho in the chuck they are normally smaller than wilds and same with hatch steelhead in flows like the stamp. Obviously there are alot of exceptions but this seems to be the trend.

Im sure theres studies on this as its an interesting subject. This is just my two cents.