Using AI to go through budgets, reports, papers, I was trying to establish a ROI for salmon/steelhead.
Typical costs vary, older data seems only available for Washington. “Oregon’s recent state-owned hatchery analysis (useful for comparison) reported total costs per release roughly $0.70–$1.60 for most salmon and higher (~$2–$3+) for steelhead.” That is cost per smolt. Only a 1% survival rate for returning.
I haven’t seen much mention here of commercial ocean fisherman, they do take a large number of hatchery fish. “ Commercial ocean (troll) and other marine commercial fisheries also rely heavily on hatchery production, especially for Chinook and coho from Columbia River, coastal, and Puget Sound programs. Exact commercial-at-sea numbers fluctuate with ocean conditions, survival rates, and regulations.” “ Using the $1–$4 per-smolt production cost and typical low survival rates to harvestable adult:
• At ~1% survival to harvest, the effective cost per commercially caught fish is roughly $100–$400.”
For recreational fishermen, you and I, those same fish, “ Puget Sound sport fishery examples (from HSRG reviews of specific programs) showed costs per harvested Chinook ranging from roughly $136 to nearly $2,000 depending on the program and fishery timing. 
• Oregon’s recent analysis put total cost per harvested adult in the $70–$240 range for most salmon and significantly higher for summer steelhead (approaching $400+).” That number is not what it costs you to go catch the fish, it is an extrapolation of the original cost per smolt released, the survival return rate, etc., same as the commercial fisheries “ROI” for recreational fishing.
Ranking of Major Factors for declining production/reproduction:
“Scientific consensus (NOAA Fisheries recovery plans, WDFW, Northwest Power and Conservation Council, and independent reviews) identifies a combination of pressures, often summarized as the “4 Hs” plus climate:
1. Habitat loss and degradation (freshwater and estuarine) — Widely considered one of the largest long-term drivers. Urbanization, agriculture, forestry, roads/culverts, pollution (including tire-derived chemicals), and loss of floodplains and side channels have permanently reduced the amount and quality of spawning and rearing habitat.
2. Hydropower/dams and migration barriers — Especially critical in the Columbia/Snake system. Dams block or delay passage, increase predation, alter flows and temperatures, and cut off access to large amounts of historical habitat. NOAA and others frequently list the federal hydropower system as a primary threat for many interior stocks.
3. Climate change / ocean conditions — A major and growing factor, particularly for marine survival. Warming oceans, marine heatwaves, shifts in prey, and related changes strongly reduce the percentage of smolts that survive to adulthood. Models show large projected declines in marine survival under continued warming. This explains much of the high year-to-year variability and the overall drop in smolt-to-adult return rates (often ~1% or less for many stocks). Freshwater effects (hotter streams, lower summer flows, extreme events) compound the problem.
4. Hatcheries — Can reduce wild productivity through genetic effects, competition, and other interactions when programs are large or poorly managed.
5. Harvest — Significant historically and still a factor, but more controlled today than habitat or climate pressures for most ESA-listed runs.
Other contributors include predation (marine mammals, birds, non-native fish), disease, and pollution.”
