PACIFIC SALMON 



Hatchery Propagation and Its Role 

 In Fishery Management 



The salmon of the Pacific coast 

 have alwaj^s been an important food 

 source for man. Craig and Hacker 

 (1940) give an excellent account of 

 the dependence of the Indians upon 

 the salmon of the Columbia River, 

 and estimate that before the arrival 

 of the white man the catch was 

 about 18 million pounds annually. 

 Eostlund (1952) also indicates the 

 importance of the salmon to all the 

 Indian tribes of the western shores 

 of North America. The early set- 

 tlers relied upon the resource for 

 food, and later exploiters took the 

 salmon in great numbers for com- 

 merce. 



Throughout the development of 

 the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, 

 salmon have played an important 

 part. Today, the salmon fisheries 

 are essential in the economy of 

 these two regions. The resource 

 contributes a substantial bulk of 

 protein food. 



Population growth and indus- 

 trial increase have intensified the 

 problems of salmon-fishery mainte- 

 nance. Streams required for the 

 natural reproduction of the species 

 have been polluted and dammed for 

 irrigation and the production of 

 electric power; watersheds have 



been denuded of forest cover result- 

 ing in floods ; and the rivers gener- 

 ally have been so utilized as to deny 

 the original users — the salmon — 

 adequate spawning area for self- 

 perpetuation. Overexploitation, 

 too, has depleted the stocks. 



Man's inevitable progress has had 

 a damaging impact upon the salmon 

 resource. There have been rela- 

 tively minor attempts to counteract 

 or mitigate the damage. 



Artificial or hatchery propaga- 

 tion of salmon on the Pacific coast 

 was first undertaken in the ISTO's, 

 when efforts were made to establish 

 runs of various species in other 

 areas of the United States and in 

 foreign countries. In later years, 

 salmon-hatchery operations have 

 had as their objective the mainte- 

 nance of salmon runs in streams 

 where overfishing, pollution, dams, 

 and other factors have decimated 

 populations. The operation of a 

 present-day hatchery is considered 

 successful only if its output of 

 young fish contributes to the man- 

 agement of a fishery and results, 

 either directly or indirectly, in the 

 maintenance or increase of catch by 

 sport or commercial interests. 



