42 



Will the recovery plan lead to recovery of the stocks? The recov- 

 ery plan is experimental and must be treated as a scientific experi- 

 ment and it is therefore very uncertain, especially when you add 

 the politics to the equation. 



The other existing proposals that would increase the likelihood 

 of recovery are PACFISH and FEMAT, the President's plan for 

 western spotted owl forests. They establish habitat conditions that 

 would maintain the productive capacity of salmonids on Federal 

 lands. 



And we need to expand those efforts, those proposals, to non- 

 federal lands so that we can actually do watershed analysis and 

 planning and recovery. 



Also, the States of Oregon and Washington are looking at devel- 

 oping policy. Oregon's wild fish policy and Washington's wild salm- 

 on policy, these policies could help to recover a multitude of popu- 

 lations that are already in the ESA pipeline. The Power Council's 

 strategy for salmon should be incorporated into the recovery plan 

 especially Section 6.2(a) which deals with the recovery of natural 

 salmon populations. 



Other actions that could be taken are the following: develop a na- 

 tional policy for the conservation of native fish fauna diversity; 

 cause each hatchery operation that is operating with Federal funds 

 to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. All hatch- 

 eries should be licensed so that periodic public review is provided. 



Reauthorization of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation Act to 

 specifically address meeting standards to provide spawner 

 escapement to maintain the productive capacity of each of the 

 salmon stocks. Restructure hydro dam mitigation to fund biological 

 inventory and habitat protection rather than replace wild salmon 

 with hatchery salmon. 



Discontinue transportation of juvenile salmon by truck since the 

 fish that are transported in this way are unable to imprint effec- 

 tively. They become lost and stray into other watersheds, they 

 spread disease and they disrupt the local gene pool. 



What should be the essential elements of the final recovery plan? 

 First, the plan should be driven by science and scientific evalua- 

 tion. The Scientific Oversight Committee would establish this. 



Second, a priority must be placed on completing an inventory of 

 the natural biological diversity of salmonids on the entire west 

 coast. This data can then be used to evaluate the various manage- 

 ment and recovery experiments being conducted. 



This would allow the agencies to conduct adaptive management 

 and even describe success. And we are also recommending the use 

 of a portion of the Mitchell Act hatchery funds that are presently 

 before Congress to provide some dollars to complete that inventory 

 for at least the Columbia River Basin. 



But the recovery plan, however, lacks these essential elements. 

 In conclusion, the region lacks a coherent health plan for native 

 salmonids, a health plan that is imbedded institutionally both 

 among and within Federal and State land, water and fish manage- 

 ment agencies. 



This plan should be based upon maintaining the genetic and life 

 history needs of the native stocks in the Columbia River Basin as 

 well as along the whole west coast. Thank you. 



