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ISSUES 



Losses of Atlantic salmon of U.S. origin in 

 commercial fisheries off Canada and West 

 Greenland severely restrict the restoration 

 of U.S. runs and fisheries. Currently, these 

 catches are about 10 times the home-water 

 catch of U.S. anglers. Problems with the 

 downstream passage of young salmon and 

 the upstream passage of adults around 

 dams also hamper wild salmon restoration 

 in many rivers. Additionally, the habitat in 

 many former salmon streams is too de- 

 graded now to produce salmon. Long-term 

 climate change may also affect Atlantic 

 salmon. Warmer average temperatures 

 may allow wider foraging in West Green- 

 land waters by U.S. salmon, but may 

 change the timing of migrations from river 



to ocean waters. 



A particular concern for striped bass is 

 the potential impact of catch-and-release 

 fishing. Striped bass angling effort cur- 

 rently far exceeds commercial fishing ef- 

 fort, and during the late 1980's over 90% 

 of the recreational catch was released 

 alive. If survival rates of the released fish 

 are low, then hooking mortality may seri- 

 ously compromise any benefit of high min- 

 imum sizes. Chesapeake Bay water quality 

 is another concern. Fishing restrictions 

 have helped rebuild the Bay's severely de- 

 pleted spawning stocks. However, if poor 

 water quality hampers or prohibits survival 

 of young bass, striped bass restoration will 

 remain threatened. 



