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We, in the Columbia Basin, should be envious of their management- predicament. <br />Biologists only have to coordinate between -two agencies, the Department of Fisheries <br />and Oceans and the Ministry of Environment, to manage supplementation in BC. The <br />provincial government manages steelhead and DFO oversees salmon management. They <br />do not have to run the gauntlet of countless agencies and committees that currently exert <br />management authority in the Columbia Basin. It appears that BC's bureaucracy may be <br />down to fighting weight. <br />New England <br />Atlantic Salmon Program <br />This information was obtained from the New England Atlantic Salmon Program Annual <br />Progress Reports for 1987 and 1988 and the 1989 Annual Report of the U,S. Atlantic <br />Salmon Assessment Committee (Anon. 1987b, 1988, 1990b). Telephone conversations <br />with the various program coordinators also clarified overall direction. <br />Background <br />Historically, Atlantic salmon thrived in rivers from Maine to Connecticut, with major <br />runs found in the Connecticut, Merrimack and Penobscot Rivers. By the late 18th <br />Century, the Atlantic salmon was essentially extirpated from these areas due to the <br />Industrial Revolution and overfishing. While the Atlantic salmon was never totally <br />eliminated from all Maine Rivers, their numbers were severely depressed, and by 1872 <br />the federal government began stocking rivers in Maine. During the period 1872-1959, <br />more than 63,340,000 juvenile Atlantic salmon were released into drainages throughout <br />Maine. <br />Today's program receives much of its direction from .the Atlantic Sea-Run Salmon <br />Commission, which was formed in 1947. The overall goal of the program is to restore a <br />self-sustaining population of Atlantic salmon by the year 2021. The Atlantic Salmon <br />Program is divided into four major programs involving state and federal agencies, private <br />industry and conservation organizations. Collectively, about 5.5 million juvenile Atlantic <br />salmon were released into 15 New England rivers in 1989. The Maine program received <br />36 percent of the releases, 34 percent went to the Connecticut River program, 23 percent <br />to the Merrimack River program and 7 percent to the Pawcatuck River program. The <br />stocking summary for 1989 is shown in Table 7. From 1980 through 1988, almost 27 <br />million juvenile salmon had been stocked into New England rivers. Almost 50 percent <br />of the fish released were fry and about 25 percent were age-1 smolts. During this same <br />9-year-period, 33,486 adult Atlantic salmon have returned to 16 rivers in New England. <br />31 <br />