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• Bonneville has not yet initiated work on the carrying capacity of the Columbia 

 River estuary and the ocean to support wild salmon populations among the other 

 competing species offish. They intend to begin this work in 1994. 



Harvest measures 



• The Council sought ways to reduce fishing for weak Snake River runs while 

 maintaining commercial, sport and tribal fisheries on stronger stocks in terminal 

 fisheries or by developing and using selective gear. Work has begun on terminal 

 fisheries, but not on selective gear. Both are promising means to allow harvest 

 that focuses on strong runs and releases weak stocks so they can rebuild. 



• Bonneville initiated a program in 1991 to fund law enforcement by state fish and 

 wildlife agencies to combat illegal fishing. 



• Bonneville initiated discussions among the state fishery agencies and the 

 commercial fishing industry to further reduce interception of salmon from weak 

 runs by reducing overall fishing levels in the ocean and the river. But the 

 discussions broke off, and the future of the program is uncertain. 



Habitat measures 



• Bonneville has worked with the region on the cooperative habitat improvement 

 measures the Council included in the Strategy for Salmon. It currently funds 

 coordinators for the "model watersheds" selected by each state to test new 

 cooperative habitat improvement approaches with private landowners and local, 

 state and federal governments. It is funding the construction of fish screen 

 fabrication shops in Idaho and Oregon to improve the region's capability to 

 screen irrigation and other water diversions on salmon streams. The Strategy for 

 Salmon calls on Bonneville to continue to participate in these programs and to 

 fund priority habitat projects. 



Monitoring and evaluation 



• Bonneville continues to fund a regional coordinated information-gathering 

 project to improve data collection and availability, albeit at reduced levels. 



Implementation by other federal agencies 



The Council's fish and wildlife measures depend on cooperation from and 

 implementation by other federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

 the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and 



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