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Pacific (1992 North Pacific Salmon Treaty). Yet, in the case of 

 North American salmon, the habitat of these fish has not been 

 maintained. A recent report by the organization American Rivers 

 details a devastating impact to the habitat of North American 

 salmon as a result of destructive logging, grazing, mining, 

 agricultural practices, water diversion projects and, above all, 

 hydroelectric power projects. 



For example, the report estimates that 200 wild runs of salmon 

 have been lost forever and another 76 are endangered with 

 extinction in the Columbia Basin alone, one of the largest salmon 

 spawning river systems in North America. Altogether the Columbia 

 Basin watershed has seen a decline in runs from about 16 million 

 to 2 . 3 million fish of which only approximately 300,000 are from 

 wild runs - the rest being hatchery-raised fish. Habitat 

 degradation and the diminution of salmon has greatly impacted 

 commercial fishing as well as fishing by indigenous peoples for 

 whom salmon is integral to their cultures. One effect has been 

 increasing conflict amongst commercial, recreational and 

 indigenous fishers as they compete for decreasing supply. 



Fisheries conservation is not solely a function of regulating the 

 impact of fishing on targeted, associated or dependent species of 

 marine life. Conservation must also entail the protection of fish 

 and the marine environment from the deleterious effects of any 

 human activity. 



