208 



DRAFT 



'I^nk salmon river migration runs occur only in odd-numbered years in 

 Oregon. " 



Pink salmon are not native to Oregon, and are only rarely observed in Oregon streams. 

 This species is found in oceanic and coastal areas north of about 40° N latitude, and its 

 normal distributional range is from approximately Skagit Bay, Washington, northward 

 (Emmett et al. 1991). Ocean harvests do occur in odd-numbered years off Oregon, but 

 these catches are comprisal of fish from streams outside Oregon. 



Page 6, 1.1.3. Historical Catch 



Columbia River Commercial Fisheries (pages 6-7) 



In this section, the authors attempt to describe historic Columbia River commercial 

 catches. This discussion contains a significant number of data errors concerning the 

 volume of fishery landings in the early years, especially for sockeye salmon (Craig and 

 Hacker 1940, Cleaver 1951, WDF and ODFW 1992). 



Decline of Run Size (pages 7-8) 



In this paragraph the authors attribute a reduced Columbia River run size of salmonids 

 solely to fishery harvest. This is substantiated by the following quote: 



'...the commercial fishery described above has taken its toll on the run 

 size of the Columbia River salmonid fishery. ' 



The basis of this conclusion is a comparison of salmonid run sizes prior to development 

 activities on the Columbia River to current levels (13 million fish versus 1 million 

 fish). This analysis does not recognize, nor does it mention, the effects of the 

 development of the Columbia River Basin on these populations. 



This paragraph also contains mis-represented information: 



". . .fi-om a low of about one million fish in 1983 (ODFW 1991) to a high 

 of about 4.5 million in 1976 (Gunsolus, 1977). " 



The authors compare the estimated run size entering Columbia River in 1983 (1.0 

 million) to the total production of Columbia River fish (ocean catch plus run returning) 

 in 1977. The apparent source of this information is a report by ODFW and WDF 

 (1991), but this cannot be verified. 



Decline of Harvest (page 8) 



This paragraph attempts to show that the decline in harvest occurred prior to the 

 development of the Columbia River Basin. In fact, harvest declined little from the 

 1870s to the 1930s. Major declines occurred since the 1950s when development 



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