45 



The decline of stock abundances and a lack of serious changes in 

 the management of the hydro system sends a clear message to the 

 sport fishing industry as well that we may be expendable. With the 

 tribes substantially excluded from harvest this year as well, it 

 seems like the harvesters have been written out of the equation 

 completely. 



The Team's plan does a great job of describing the detrimental 

 effects that the building and operation of the hydro system has had 

 on our fish populations. It is really one of the best descriptions I 

 have ever read. 



So, in reading that. I was expecting them to go on and describe 

 how alterations in the Columbia River Basin — primarily the con- 

 struction and operation of dams — are the cause of the problem, and 

 in order to create a solution we need to move on to some changes. 



But having identified the dams as the overriding problem that 

 doesn't seem to be the case. There is a lack of recommendations for 

 modifications but a lot of suggestions for more studies. 



And we are a bit sensitive in the sport fishing industry because 

 our backs are up against the wall as well and so when we hear 

 study it is just like studying the fish to death and we are following 

 the fish behind. 



Instead, they seem to focus on secondary mortality such as prob- 

 lems with habitat and problems with hatcheries and harvest, espe- 

 cially harvest. It seems to feel it can grab that immediate handle 

 and with the year in and year out reductions in harvest that the 

 fishing industry has had to put up with, we feel like we have 

 anteed up in this game already. 



We have already ponied in to the point where we hope these sac- 

 rifices that we have made to date are not meaningless. As an in- 

 dustry association we are also concerned about the continuation of 

 the barging program. For 18 years more and more juvenile fish 

 have been barged and less and less adults have returned. 



It just seems to really have been an excuse to avoid making the 

 necessary hard choices that we need for the fish. The other concern 

 is back to the studies. We don't want a continuation of studies 

 without action. I mean studies are valuable but studies as Lorrie 

 stated earlier, the only thing we are going to be certain of eventu- 

 ally is extinction if we continue on that path. 



While we might be compelled to gather more and more informa- 

 tion about this without action this information is of no benefit to 

 the fish stocks. There has been some cost or talk about cost for the 

 recovery of the salmon and I think one of the things we need to 

 look at when we are putting these dollars into recovery is the idea 

 of sustainable harvest of these populations for two reasons. 



It is of a benefit to the fish to have the larger populations for 

 withstanding natural disasters such as El Nino or Mt. St. Helens, 

 or drought, whatever, but it is also of benefit to humans in terms 

 of an investment in our region and to get a return on that invest- 

 ment we have to go back to harvestable numbers of fish. 



Our industries generate a great deal of money to the States that 

 we operate in and our region does not get a return on the invest- 

 ment of recovery unless the industries are strong. Our Northwest 

 has been described as any place that a salmon could get to and I 



