402 



barges for the trip downstream. 



It takes only common sense to 

 predict the outcome; Capturing 

 and handling tiny Tish in this way 

 inflicts iixjuries and puts thera 

 under severe physical stress that 

 makes thera much more suscep- 

 tible to predators, disease, and 

 the natural risks of life in the 

 ocean. 



The impact appears to be es- 

 pecially severe on wild salmon be- 

 cause they are totally unaccus- 

 tomed to man-made environ- 

 ments, crowded holding tanks, 

 and physical handling. 



Disease — In the truck tanks or 

 barge holds, the juveniles are 

 faced with a crowded, alien world. 



Action Agenda 



FOR COLUMBIA' AND SNAKE RIVER WILD SALMON 



I KEEP THE RSH IN THE WATER!— We must get juvenile 

 salmon past the dams, power turbines, and slackwater 

 reservoirs safely — without barging or trucking them down 

 to the sea. Sending fingerling salmon downstream by 

 loading them onto boats is outrageous, and besides, it 

 doesn't work. 



I RUN THE RIVER MORE LIKE A RIVER— At peak spring 

 migration times we must manage the dams and reservoirs 

 so that young salmon are carried quickly to the sea. This 

 means temporarily drawing down the Lower Snake River 

 reservoirs and sending more water downstream through 

 the Columbia in order to achieve biologically necessary 

 smolt travel time. Increasing water speed during juvenile 

 migration will greatly reduce the death toll on fingerlings 

 that now drift slowly in the slack water of the reservoirs, 

 falling victim to predators, disease, and disorientation. 



I SMART ENERGY AND WATER USE PLANNING ARE BEST 

 BUYS' — Lowering the Snake River reservoirs during the 

 peak juvenile migration and sending more water down the 

 Columbia will require some modifications from business- 

 as-usual. But there are workable, cost-effective ways to 

 accomplish these vitally necessary changes. Energy efTi- 

 ciency, fuel switching, seasonal exchanges on the regional 

 power grid, and improved water conservation for irrigators 

 are all smart investments and will help bring back once 

 teeming numbers of wild salmon. 



SAVE OUR WILD S.'U.MON!— Hatchery fish are no substi- 

 tute for wild salmon. Healthy populations of wild salmon 

 are essential to maintain the genetic diversity and survival 

 instincts that will assure long-term success of salmon in 

 the Northwest. Maintaining and restoring fish habitat 

 and watersheds are clearly essential. 



In these closely confined condi- 

 tions, disease can spread much 

 more efficiently. (Anyone with 

 small children in day-care will 

 understand this principle.) 



Hatchery fish almost always 

 carry diseases such as BKD (bac- 

 terial kidney disease) and the 

 holding tanks in the barges create 

 a prime opportunity for disease to 

 spread. Studies by the National 

 Fisheries Research Center I Elliot 

 and Paschol have documented 

 that BKD infections can occur 

 during collection and barging, 

 and that this disease is especially 

 deadly to threatened and endan- 

 gered wild Chinook and sockeye. 



Imprinting — Furthermore, fish 

 taken out of the river and loaded 

 onto a barge do not experience the 

 same "imprinting" process that 

 helps them find their way back as 

 adults. Scientists don't fully un- 

 derstand how a tiny salmon 

 "maps" its route downstream so 

 that it can return to the exact 

 same place years later to spawn 

 and die. But there can be little 

 doubt that being transported for 

 hundreds of miles in the "black 

 box" of a barge or tank truck is a 

 huge interruption of this awe in- 

 spiring natural ability. 



WHAT MATTERS MOST is the bot- 

 tom line; Fifteen years of captur- 

 ing and transporting smolts has 

 not reversed the precipitous de- 



th* NorthiMSI Po«Mr Ptu\nrtQ Counol 



