81 



SETTING THE STAGE 



WHY DO SNAKE RIVER 

 SALMON NEED A 

 RECOVERY PLAN? 



For many people, salmon are the most profound and 

 enduring symbol of the Pacific Northwest. To the 

 Northwest's Native American cultures, the salmon are the 

 very heart of their societies; they mark the turning of the 

 seasons, form a religious focus, and they literally grant life 

 to the tribes in the form of sustenance. To the people who 

 visit the Northwest, the salmon represent unmatched 

 opportunities for fishing and for fish-watching as they make 

 their great migratory runs. For citizens of the Northwest in 

 general, the salmon embody an economic mainstay, provide 

 a fishing opportunity right in their "own backyard," and 

 represent one of the last living examples of the wild 

 character so cherished by the people of Oregon, 

 Washington, and Idaho. Unfortunately, the salmon runs are 

 decreasing. And with each year's additional loss, a little 

 more of the intrinsic value of life in the Pacific Northwest 

 recedes into the past. 



The Endangered Species Act, a federal law passed in 1973, 

 requires that recovery plans be prepared for all species that 

 are listed as "threatened" or "endangered." Species are 

 listed when existing conditions and trends place them in 

 danger of becoming extinct. A recovery plan is written to 

 guide the actions needed to return species to a condition 

 where they no longer require Endangered Species Act 

 protection and can thus be removed from the threatened or 

 endangered list. 



Snake River sockeye salmon were listed as an endangered 

 species on November 20, 1 99 1 . Snake River spring/summer 

 and fall chinook salmon were listed as threatened on April 

 22, 1992. 



Many factors played a part in reducing these salmon 

 populations to the point where they needed to be listed as 

 threatened or endangered: creation of dams and reservoirs 

 in their migration corridors, loss and deterioration of their 

 spawning and nursery habitats, disease, predation, excessive 

 harvest, water being withdrawn from streams for other uses, 

 and impacts from hatchery fish, are among the myriad 

 causes. 



Snake River sockeye salmon were reduced in abundance 

 more than the other salmon. During the 1950s and 1960s, as 

 many as 4,360 adult sockeye returned to Redfish Lake to 

 spawn. In 1992, only one adult sockeye returned to Redfish 

 Lake, and in 1993, eight returned. 



Snake River fall chinook salmon have also declined to small 

 numbers. At the uppermost Snake River dam with fish 

 passage, an average of 12,700 salmon passed the dam from 

 1964 through 1968. Fish passing the dam fell to a low of 78 

 in 1990, and then increased to 533 in 1992, and 742 in 1993. 



Exact numbers of naturally produced Snake River spring/ 

 summer chinook salmon are harder to obtain because many 

 hatchery spring/summer chinook salmon have been released 

 in the system. However, from 1 950 through 1 960, 

 approximately 125,000 naturally produced adult spring/ 

 summer chinook salmon returned to the system yearly. 

 Estimated returns of natural spring/summer chinook 

 averaged less than 10,000 from 1980 through 1990, and 

 were approximately 3,400 in 1991 and 1992, and 7,900 in 

 1993. 



Bonneville Dam spilling excess water 

 during 1948 flood. 

 (Photo from NMFS) 



