465 



PNUCC 



September 7, 1993 



SALMON 



CURRENTS 



Future salmon 

 recovery efforts need 

 to be guided by good 

 science, not 

 assumptions. 



Results, Not Guesswork, 

 Needed to Save the Salmon 



For a good picture of salmon recovery over the past ten years 

 and more, simply imagine a ball game with no scoreboard. 



In a game like that, you'd never know who was winning. More 

 importantly, you wouldn't know which tactics worked and which 

 didn't. Strategy would be replaced by guesswork. Obviously, it 

 wouldn't be a very satisfying game. 



Nor has it been a satisfactory way of spending over a billion 

 dollars to save threatened wild salmon -- and yet that is what the 

 region has done, beginning with the first "experimental" 

 recovery measures dating back to the early 1980s. 



"There's never been good data," said PNUCC Executive 

 Director Al Wright. "As a result, the region has thrown a 

 tremendous amount of water and money at the problem, without 

 knowing what really works. It's essential that we support 

 ongoing research, so that future efforts can be based on science, 

 not guesswork." 



Take A Guess 



Since the beginning, sahnon recovery has been plagued by one 

 big problem: for all the time, money and attention spent on 

 recovery measures, no one really understands why certain 

 salmon runs are dwindling or what will bring them back. 



Hydro projects on the Columbia and Snake have certainly 

 contributed to sahnon mortality, as have other factors, including 

 drought, disease, ocean conditions, predators, degraded habitat, 

 overfishing, and short-sighted hatchery management. 



Debate over how these factors interact occupies a small army of 

 analysts and activists, keeping the copy machines humming full 

 time. 



Salmon Currents is published by the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee 

 One Main Place. 101 SW Main Street. Suite 810, Portland, Oregon 97204 



