217 



suL'L'i.>.s.stiilly iiiaku llii'ir 

 to ihuir iialal slrt-aiu 



TlIK bftV, SUHVIVAI. Mlaliblic ib 

 Imtl) (Iccirplive am) irrolc'vaiit 

 Tin; law, and common si-iisu, tell 

 us llial iiiilunil loiiililiiiiis — nut 

 arliricially eniinieeiod environ- 

 nionLi — are needed lo assure spe- 

 cies survival 



MYTH #3 



We'll build a better fish trap. 



■ Proponents uf barging argue 

 that all we need to do is make it 

 work better. Yet just lo replace 

 the adults which spawn in central 

 Idaho, to bring the population 

 curve up to level from its current 

 downward trend, the transporta- 

 tion benefit ratios would have to 

 rise to 7:1 or 10:1 — a three- or 

 four-fold improvement over the 

 "best" results in the Corps' two 

 studies And lo achieve salmon 

 restorations in the Snake Basin, 

 biologists would want lo see the 

 ratio between 20: 1 and 30: 1 



In a program that the Corps 

 has already been working to im- 

 prove for fifteen years, such huge 

 leaps forward are little more than 

 a fantasy. Nevertheless, schemes 

 such as net-pen barges and new 

 smelt capture devices have been 

 proposed. 



Two decades ago the Washing- 

 ton Department of Wildlife tried a 

 net-pen barge to transport steel- 

 head smolts (far less fragile than 

 salmon) on the Chehalis River. 

 They cancelled the experiment 

 when the nets lore scales off the 

 fingerlings in massive numbers 

 Net-pen barging in the Snake and 

 Columbia would prove an expen- 

 sive disaster too 



A new smoll collector above 

 the eight niainslein dams and res- 

 ervoirs should also be rejected 

 Even if intractable engineering 

 obstacles could be overcome, it 

 would slill not solve the key prob- 



vay Ij.ick i leins: ll wijulil iiul capture all mi- 

 j grating lingerlings It would nut 

 I help snidlls coming mil of down- 

 stream Inbularies ll wuuld nut 

 separate wild from halchery fish, 

 ' and il would iiol eliminate inju- 

 I ries or stress from capture. 



Stop barging and make the 

 rivers safe for salmon. 



The cockeyed notion of taking fish 

 out of rivers and loading them 

 onto barges was instituted as a 

 desperate, temporary measure fif- 

 teen years ago when il became 

 clear that the Columbia and 

 Snake River hydropuwer system 

 was deadly for small salmon: The 

 huge reservoirs fatally slowed 

 migration to the sea and passage 

 through the massive power tur- 

 bines was lethal 



The barging program was de- 

 signed to avoid these problems, 

 but not solve them. In doing so, 

 the Army Corps of Engineers cre- 

 ated a whole new set of obstacles 

 that have proven equally, perhaps 

 more deadly for wild salmon Now 

 that fisheries agencies that once 

 supported the barging program 

 are challenging its effectiveness, 

 it's lime to end this unnatural 

 charade 



Common sense and a millen- 

 nia of evolution tell us that fish 

 belong 1/1 the river. The Endan- 

 gered Species Act requires that 

 threatened and endangered spe- 

 cies be protected in their natural 

 habitats. And the Northwest 

 Power Planning Act specifically 

 calls for river "fiows as necessary" 

 for the survival of salmon in the 

 Snake and Columbia Rivers. It's 

 time to modify the dams and their 

 operation so that we recreate a 

 semblance of the natural condi- 

 tions that salmon need for sur- 

 vival. 



This can best be done by in- 

 creasing river velocity with a 

 package of fiow augmentation 



REFERENCES 



Coluinhij Ba^in Fish and WilJIilc 

 Aulhorily, AU lltn. Tiuiibponjlioii 

 Review Giuup "Review of Salmon 

 jiiiJ Slecihead Transporlalion SluUie^ 

 III die roluiiiliij and Snake Rivcis, 

 l'J«4 lo IW) • And cover iiiemoraii- 

 duin Deeeinher .11. 1992. 



Eliiol and Pa.scho. "Juvenile Fibli 

 TranbiHinalitm, Inipacl ol BKD on 

 Survival ol Spring/Summer ChiiUKik 

 Slocks " Nauunal Fisheries Research 

 Cenier. 198'). 1990 Annual Rcporu,. 



Idaho Deparlincni of Fish and Gaiiic 

 Vaniius reports, comnicnls arid 

 analyses. 1992. 



Niirtliweii Conservation Ai I Hepori 

 "Science Team Takes Suong Issue 

 WiUi Effecliveness of Barging " Jan 

 22, 1993 



Northwest Power Planning Council 

 Siruiegy for Salmon. Oclober. 1992. 



Nonhwcsl Resource InfonnaUon 

 Cenier. Inc. leslunony subinilied lo 

 the National Marine Fishenes 

 Service on US. Army Corps of 

 Engineers application for a permil to 

 transport salmon in 1993 under 

 Section 10 of the Endangered 

 Species Act. 



United Stales Anny Corps of Engi- 

 neers Columbia Hiver Salmon 

 Miugaiion Analysis: System Con- 

 figiiraiiun Study: Phase l-Interim 

 Siaiiii Hepon. Technical Appendix 

 U: Anadioinous Fish Collection and 

 Conveyance, Snake and Columbia 

 Rivers Technical Appendix E: 

 Existing Sysiein Improvements. 

 Novemlier. I9<J2. 



and reservoir drawdowns Only a 

 solution that provides what 

 salmon really need — a safe and 

 swift migration in the river — will 

 recover this Northwest legacy 



The stakes are high. What 

 were once some of the world's 

 most magnificent salmon runs are 

 now on a barge to extinction. 



It's time to dock the barges 

 and fix the river! 



