404 



successfully make their way back 

 to their natal stream. 



THE 95% SURVIVAL statistic is 

 both deceptive and irrelevant. 

 The law, and common sense, tell 

 us that natural conditions — not 

 artificially engineered environ- 

 ments — are needed to assure spe- 

 cies survival. 



MYTH #3 



We'll build a better fish trap. 



■ Proponents of barging argue 

 that all we need to do is make it 

 work better. Yet just to replace 

 the adults which spawn in central 

 Idaho, to bring the population 

 curve up to level from its current 

 downward trend, the transporta- 

 tion benefit ratios would have to 

 rise to 7:1 or 10:1 — a three- or 

 four-fold improvement over the 

 "best" results in the Corps' two 

 studies. And to achieve salmon 

 restorations in the Snake Basin, 

 biologists would want to see the 

 ratio between 20:1 and 30:1. 



In a program that the Corps 

 has already been working to im- 

 prove for fifteen years, such huge 

 leaps forward are little more than 

 a fantasy. Nevertheless, schemes 

 such as net-pen barges and new 

 smolt capture devices have been 

 proposed. 



Two decades ago the Washing- 

 ton Department of Wildlife tried a 

 net-pen barge to transport steel- 

 head smolts (far less fragile than 

 salmon) on the Chehalis River. 

 They cancelled the experiment 

 when the nets tore scales off the 

 fingerlings in massive numbers. 

 Net-pen barging in the Snake and 

 Columbia would prove an expen- 

 sive disaster too. 



A new sraolt collector above 

 the eight mainslem dams and res- 

 ervoirs should also be rejected. 

 Even if intractable engineering 

 obstacles could be overcome, it 

 would still not solve the key prob- 



lems: It would not capture all mi- 

 grating fingerlings. It would not 

 help smolts coming out of down- 

 stream tributaries. It would not 

 separate wild from hatchery fish, 

 and it would not eliminate inju- 

 ries or stress from capture. 



Stop barging and make the 

 rivers safe for salmon. 



The cockeyed notion of taking fish 

 out of rivers and loading them 

 onto barges was instituted as a 

 desperate, temporary measure fif- 

 teen years ago when it became 

 clear that the Columbia and 

 Snake River hydropower system 

 was deadly for small salmon: The 

 huge reservoirs fatally slowed 

 migration to the sea and passage 

 through the massive power tur- 

 bines was lethal. 



The barging program was de- 

 signed to avoid these problems, 

 but not solve them. In doing so, 

 the Army Corps of Engineers cre- 

 ated a whole new set of obstacles 

 that have proven equally, perhaps 

 more deadly for wild salmon. Now 

 that fisheries agencies that once 

 supported the barging program 

 are challenging its effectiveness, 

 it's time to end this unnatural 

 charade. 



Common sense and a millen- 

 nia of evolution tell us that fish 

 belong in the river. The Endan- 

 gered Species Act requires that 

 threatened and endangered spe- 

 cies be protected in their natural 

 habitats. And the Northwest 

 Power Planning Act specifically 

 calls for river "flows as necessary" 

 for the survival of salmon in the 

 Snake and Columbia Rivers. It's 

 lime to modify the dams and their 

 operation so that we recreate a 

 semblance of the natural condi- 

 tions that salmon need for sur- 

 vival. 



This can best be done by in- 

 creasing river velocity with a 

 package of flow augmentation 



REFERENCES 



Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife 

 Aulhorily. Ad Hoc Transponalion 

 Review Group "Review of Salmon 

 and Sleelhcad Transportation Studies 

 in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, 

 1984 to 1989 " And cover mcimiran 

 dum. December .11. 1992. 



ElliDl and Pascho. "Juvenile Fish 

 Transportation. Impact of BKD on 

 Survival of Spring/Summer ChniiKik 

 Slocks. '" National Fisheries Research 

 Cenler. 1989. 1990 Annual Reports. 



Idaho Depanmenl of Fish and Game. 

 Various reports, comments and 

 analyses. 1992 



Nonhwesi Conservation Act Report. 

 "Science Team Takes Strong Issue 

 With Effectiveness of Barging." Jan. 

 22. 1993 



Northwest Power Planning Council 

 Strategy for Salmon. October, 1992. 



Northwest Resource Information 

 Center, Inc. testimony submitted lo 

 the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service on U.S. Army Corps of 

 Engineers application for a permit lo 

 transport salmon in 1993 under 

 Section 10 of the Endangered 

 Species Act. 



United States Army Corps of Engi- 

 neers. Columbia River Salmon 

 Mitigation Analysis: System Co-t- 

 figuration Study: Phase 1-lnterim 

 Status Report. Technical Appendix 

 D: Anadromous Fish Collection and 

 Conveyance. Snake ?nd Columbia 

 Rivers Technical Appendix E: 

 Existing System Improvements. 

 Noveinlier. 1992. 



and reservoir drawdowns. Only a 

 solution that provides what 

 salmon really need — a safe and 

 swift migration in the river — will 

 recover this Northwest legacy. 



The stakes £u-e high. What 

 were once some of the world's 

 most magnificent salmon runs are 

 now on a barge to extinction. 



It's time to dock the barges 

 and fix the river! 



