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STATEMENT OF MARVIN L. PLENERT, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, U.S. FISH AND 

 WILDLIFE SERVICE, PORTLAND, OREGON, BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON 

 MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES CONCERNING THE DECLINE OF PACIFIC 

 SALMON STOCKS. 



August 10, 1993 



Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to be before the 

 Committee today to address the continuing decline of Pacific 

 anadromous fish stocks. My remarks today will focus on the role 

 and responsibilities of the Fish and Wildlife Service and our 

 coordination with other agencies. I will also provide examples of 

 successful efforts in restoring declining salmon populations and 

 describe our plans for the future. 



Salmon and steelhead trout have long been important to the people 

 of the Northwest — important to Native Americans, to coastal 

 communities, and to commercial and recreational anglers. The Fish 

 and Wildlife Service also has a long history of stewardship of 

 these resources, dating back to 1872 on the McCloud River in 

 California. Our efforts at that time were much simpler than today 

 but they signalled an early recognition that salmon stocks were in 

 trouble even then. By the turn of century, commercial fishing 

 interests were alarmed at the decline in the fishery. But the 

 development of an emerging region of the U.S. was not to be denied 

 and the rest, as they say, is history. The Bonneville and Grand 

 Coulee Dams were just the beginning of latter day development that 

 would forever change the status of Pacific salmonids. 



The incremental population declines have reached a point that the 

 long-term, cumulative impacts have placed numerous salmon and 

 steelhead stocks at the risk of extinction. The loss of a little 

 habitat here, some overfishing there, a single road cut, a small 

 amount of clearcutting, overgrazing, or water diversion may have 

 minimum impacts as single events. In aggregate, with these effects 

 multiplied thousands of times, you have salmon populations in the 

 conditions they are in today. To date, three salmon stocks in the 

 Columbia River Basin and one in California's Sacramento River have 

 received protection under the Endangered Species Act; others have 



