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transportation program in place, because less than 5% of the initial Snake River smolt 

 migration actually pass through the Pool (see Attachment C). Even under the most favorable 

 conditions for a joint Snake River- John Day Pool drawdown, the University researchers concluded 

 that a John Day Pool drawdown would only increase total smolt survival below Bormeville Dam 

 by 1%, at best. But the impacts from loss of fish guidance efficiency at the John Day Project, 

 from an increase to predator concentrations, and from turbine cavitation problems at the McNary 

 project would likely off-set any biological benefits gained from a drawdown. 



It is indeed ironic that some represenutives from the resource agencies and environmental 

 community-who in the past have expressed great concern about high-risk, high-cost projects- 

 blatantly ignore the clear danger signs surrounding the proposed drawdowns. 



Pursuing Biologically and Cost-Effective Salmon Recovery Measures: 



Technical evaluations of the smolt transportation program conducted by the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service consistently point toward direct fish benefiU for Snake River salmon 

 and steelhead. These evaluations have been well documented within the ESA administrative 

 record, and demonstrate clear improvements for Snake-Columbia River salmon runs over multiple 

 years for multiple stocks. Additional enhancement of the smolt transportation program will prove 

 to be the cornerstone of an effective salmon recovery plan. 



Those opposed to the smolt transportation program have primarily pointed toward the 

 declining salmon runs above Lower Granite Dam and surmised that the smolt transportation 

 program is at fault But in doing so, the program opponents have failed to acknowledge that 

 the production trends for the Snake River stocks have closely followed the overall West Coast 

 production trend for chinook salmon, as well as for trends in other major chinook production 

 basins (see Attachment D.) Snake River chinook production trends are no different than the 

 trends exhibited within other West Coast areas. To ignore these data and suggest instead that the 

 smolt transportation program has led to Snake River chinook declines-despite the evidence to 

 the contrary-is absurd. Such positions have no basis in science or objective analysis. 



There are other actions, in addition to enhancing the smolt transportation program that 

 must be undertaken. It will be vitally important for state, federal, and tribal commercial and 

 sport fishery managers to establish specific escapement rates for the Snake River fall chinook. 

 The fish harvesters must confront the need to honor biologically prudent escapement goals, not 

 merely percentage reductions in harvest, if the fall chinook nm is to be rebuilt to a viable 

 population size. This will require an unprecedented level of cooperation among U.S. and Canada 

 fish managers, and the Indian tribes of the Zone 6 fishery, within the Lower Columbia River. 



Some of our "action items" will need to address biological factors that are presently 

 uncertain and have been the cause of great controversy. It will be necessary to gain a much 

 better understanding of the relationship between flow regimes and smolt survival. In years past, 

 the region has failed to design adequately experiments and collect data to resolve the flow- 

 survival question. Presently, the best scientific information we have indicates that the biological 



