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solutions that do not always fully serve the immediate biological 

 priorities of the salmon. Our ESA expttrience has demonstrated 

 that while much is known about the biology of salmon, gaps In 

 knowledge remain. In moving to restore salmon stocks in the 

 Basin, we must err on the side of fish rather than on the side of 

 the unlcnown through a compromise that may result in costly delays 

 in the recovery. 



NMFS believes this instruction already exists in the Northwest 

 Power Act which establishes a standard of "equitable treatment" »^ 

 for fish and wildlife with other project purposes. We believe 

 this standard is sufficient to ensure compromise on the side of 

 fish. 



Limited authority and enforcement capability of the Council is 

 another weakness that has inhibited the timely implementation of 

 the program. There appears to be no clear process for assuring 

 accountability on the part of the various State and Federal 

 authorities to ensure timely implementation of the action items 

 in the program. Actions related to habitat, hatcheries and 

 harvest are carried out by Federal and State agencies under their 

 own respective statutes. NMFS believes that better systematic 

 coordination among implementing and funding entities could help 

 improve program responsiveness. As with Federal hydrosystem 

 actions, the lack of consequences for failure in the present 

 system allows the respective entities to control the completion 



