By the time a salmon has survived four or five years at sea,it has run the gauntlet of many predators,escaped nets and troll fishermen and finally the survivors are in the river On their final spawning run.What I would like to know is ,what percentage of smolts entering salt water have survived to spawn?This seems to be important because catching a salmon in the river ready to spawn has to be worth far more than catching one at sea in terms of escapment.My hypothesis is that the one spawner is worth several times that of a salmon still running the gauntlet at sea.Any idea what the number might be?( my theory is you can’t equate it in terms of one for one ,or that saying a sport caught salmon at sea equals a spawner in the river that has already survived to get there.