through changes in existing projects) must be conditioned to avoid or mitigate additional 

 salmon and steelhead losses. (See program section 1200.) [Source Council ] 



203. SYSTEM PLANNING^ 



Within the scope of hydropower responsibility, the Council intends to evaluate salmon 

 and steelhead restoration efforts from a system perspective. The Northwest Power Act 

 emphasizes the need for such a perspective, and the biological, hydrological. and 

 institutional complexities of the basin demand it. Specifically, the Council proposes that 

 the protection, mitigation and enhancement of salmon and steelhead in the basin be 

 accomplished through three interdependent types of action-passage improvement, fish 

 production and harvest management-all coordinated in a systemwide fashion. 



The Council believes a system approach can be founded on the following general 

 objectives already shared by the fishery agencies. Indian tribes, and land and water 

 managers, hydropower project operators and regulators, and the Council: 



(a) Work together to protect, mitigate and enhance salmon and steelhead to increase 

 yields to commercial, Indian and sport fisheries and to sustain these increased yields. 



Salmon and steelhead fisheries are an important part of the Northwest's culture and 

 economy. Commercial fisheries contribute to the food supply and economic health of the 



2 This section is likely to change considerably m hghi of the system alternatives issue paper to 

 be released m October See introduction to this document 



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