Tom G wrote:

Now I'm wondering about the lack of survival skills in hatchery fish.
How many of them fail to thrive in the wild because they don't know
how/what to eat?

I think it goes beyond that but I did read about a study that tried to
do what you're suggesting - I can't remember the results.

Most trout that are raised to catchable size before stocking are from
lines of fish that were developed to do well in hatchery runs (at least
this is true in Colorado). They selectively bred for fish that would
gain the most weight in the shortest amount of time in a runway
environment. It pretty obvious to me that those fish aren't going to do
well in a natural environment even if they know what to eat.

Willi