400 



however, there is effectively no 

 legal in-river catch on three of the 

 four Snake River salmon species 

 now listed under the Endangered 

 Species Act. And over this cen- 

 tury, there has been significant, 

 and steadily increased, regulation 

 of commercial fishing in the Co- 

 lumbia and Snake Rivers. 



For mixed-stock runs, where 

 wild and hatchery fish swim up- 

 stream together, harvest prac- 

 tices must change so that hatch- 

 ery-bred fish are caught and wild 

 salmon continue safely to their 

 spawning grounds. There are 

 ways to reach this goal including 

 marking all hatchery fish, re-allo- 

 cating harvests under the U.S./ 

 Canada fisheries treaty, and con- 

 verting to new harvest methods. 



Instead, the utility industry 

 has argued vehemently for a 

 steep reduction, or even morato- 

 rium, on commercial fishing, di- 

 verting attention from the role 

 that hydropower dams have 

 played in wiping out salmon. 



Hatcheries create more 

 problems than they solve 



SINCE WORLD WAR II as the 

 dams have taken a greater and 

 greater toll on salmon runs, 

 hatcheries were built to supply 

 fish for harvest. However, hatch- 

 eries too often produce weak, dis- 

 eased fish which are genetically 

 inferior to their wild ancestors. 

 Hatchery production narrows ge- 

 netic diversity, which greatly im- 

 pairs the ability of a species to 

 survive over time. Inter-breeding 

 of native and hatchery salmon de- 

 grades the wild runs. 



While hatcheries can play a 

 role in producing fish for harvest, 

 they are no substitute for the 

 long-term assurance of healthy 

 wild salmon runs. 



Habitat protection is key — 

 but must go hand in hand 

 with fixing the dams 



EROSION from clearcutting in 

 prime watersheds has muddied 

 rivers smd silted-in salmon 

 spawning gravel beds throughout 

 the Northwest. Heavy cattle graz- 

 ing of streamside range areas has 

 trampled the life out of salmon 

 habitat in the Columbia Basin. 



Any regional salmon recovery 

 effort must include significant re- 

 ductions in short-sighted natural 

 resource uses that destroy pro- 

 ductive fish habitat. However, 

 making the Columbia and Snake 

 Rivers safe for salmon must 

 underpin all efforts to preserve 

 and restore high-quality fish 

 habitat. 



We can and must modify 

 the dams and their opera- 

 tion before it is too late 



THE DRAMATIC decline of wild 

 salmon runs in the Pacific North- 

 west has reached a crisis. It is 

 high time for action to save this 

 vital part of our Northwest heri- 

 tage, environment, and economy. 



For the past thirty years, the 

 federal hydropower agencies and 

 the utility industry have tried ev- 

 erything but making the river 

 work for fish. They have failed. 



That is why fish advocates 

 and conservationists have pro- 

 posed physical and operational 

 modifications to the Snake and 

 Columbia mainstem dams in or- 

 der to provide a safe, in-the-river 

 migration for juvenile salmon. 



We can have a river system 

 that works for fish, energy, and 

 our other needs. But it calls for 

 commitment to change the cur- 

 rently destructive operation of the 

 Columbia and Snake River dams. 

 With businesslike investments we 

 can make these rivers work for 

 wild salmon and for us all! 



REFERENCES 



Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife 

 Authority. The Biological and 

 Technical Justification for the 

 Flow Proposal of the Columbia 

 Basin and Fish and Wildlife 

 Authority. 1991. 



Pal Ford, Ed. "Nonhwcsl Saliniin at 

 the CrossfDads." High Country 

 Sews. Special Edition. April 22, 

 1991. 



Joel R. Hamilton. Michael Martni. 

 and Ken CasavanI The Effect of 

 Lower Snake River Reservoir 

 Drawdown on Barge Transporta- 

 tion: Some Observations. Univer- 

 sity Task Force on Salmon and the 

 Columbia River System. Pacific 

 Northwest Cooperative Extension, 

 undated (1991). 



Daniel D. Huppert. David L. 

 Ruharty, and Elizabeth S. Kenney. 

 Economic Effects of Management 

 Measures within the Range of 

 Potential Critical Habitat for 

 Snake River Endangered and 

 Threatened Salmon Species. 

 University of Washington. School 

 of Marine Affairs with assistance 

 by National Marine Fisheries 

 Service. Economics Technical 

 Coitmtitlee. Submitted June 4, 

 1992. 



Willa Nehlsen, Jack E. Williams, 

 and James A. Lichatowich. 

 "Pacific Salmon at the Crossroads: 

 Stocks at Risk from California, 

 Oregon, Idaho, and Wa.shinglon." 

 American Fisheries Society. 

 Fisheries, March- April, 1991. 



Northwest Power Planning Council 

 Strategy for SatmofL October 

 1992. 



Oregon Rivers Council. The 

 Economic Imperative of Protecting 

 Riverine Habitat in the Pacific 

 Northwest. Research Report No. 

 5, January, 1992. 



Ray J. White. "Why Wild Fish 

 Matter: A Biologist's View." 

 Trout Unlimited, Trout. Summer, 

 1992. 



