463 



to make the hydropower system more fish friendly. But many people, including some fish agencies, are 

 still relying on this old dau. New data indicates significantly improved fish survival. Current studies 

 of fish passing through turbines show that fish mortality is now about 6 percent rather than the 15 percent 

 estimate that has been used in the past. New studies are needed to assess the current level of fish 

 mortality throughout the system and to identify means to achieve additional increases in fish survival. 

 A short paper discussing the need for new studies is attached. 



MYTH tf4. Harvest doesn't kill fish, or "we have to kill them to save them." 



Fisheries agencies argue that there is no need to reduce harvest since the hydropower system kills so 

 many more fish, harvest really doesn't make a difference. They claim that total fish mortality rates are 

 the same with or without harvest. These statements simply are not true. The current change in fall 

 Chinook in-river harvest regulations between last year and this year demonstrates how harvest rates 

 directly impact the number of adult fish returning to the spawning grounds. 



Last year, an estimated 1 ,359 Snake River fall chinook returned to the mouth of the Columbia River, 

 heading toward their spawning grounds high on the Snake River. NMFS approved an in-river harvest 

 rate of 16.5 percent - which meant that at least 225 of the threatened salmon were caught between the 

 river mouth and the spawning grounds. Only 533 made it past Lower Granite Dam -- the last fish 

 counting point between the fall chinook and their spawning grounds. 



This year, the number of threatened fall chinook is up - 1,616 are expected to reach the mouth of the 

 Columbia. But NMFS has approved an increase in the harvest rate to 28 percent. This year, at least 459 

 threatened fall chinook will be caught and only 457 fish are expected to return to the spawning grounds. . 

 This increased rate means that even though the fish run is larger, fewer threatened fall chinook will return 



PNUCC September 21. 1993 -8- PB212 



