7089

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7089
• Author: Northwest Power Planning Council.
• Title: Strategy for Salmon
• USFW Year: 1992.
• USFW - Doc Type: Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.
• Copyright Material: NO

Conditions in the
modem Columbia and
Snake rivers/because of
the dams, are ideal fo~
salmon pre9-ators, par-
ticularly squawfish.
They thiive.in the
warm, slow-moving
water of the reservoirs.
Other fa~'tors also
favor salmon predators. '
For example, hatchery
. smolts sometimes are
weakened by disease or
don't know how to
avoid predators. 5mblts
,are easy prey below
da:ms because they are
stunned after passing through the turbines.
One solution to this problem is to reduce
th~ number of predators. Our strategy calls
for reducing the squawfrsh populatien by
20 percent within five years. Experts believe
'this, in turn, could lead to a 2S"":pfrcent
reduction. in predation. . .'
We also are concerned about the survi~al
of adult sa.lmon. Ma~y are killed by seals .
. and sea lionsiil the lower Columbia River. \
But seals and sea lions are protected by fed-
erallaw, so we can only urge the National
Marine Fisheries Service to continue eva-
luatingthe impact these creatures have on
salmon. . .

Control salmon
p'redators

. Fishing for salmon
always has been a cen-
, tral part of Northwe;t
life. Salmon are caught
and sold, and th~
resulting income sup-
ports thotJ,sands of .
~ people region wide- \
patticularly'in fishing ,
towns near, the mouth.
of the Columbi(;lRiver.
Salmon are prized by
sport anglers, too.
Ipdians have treaty
rights.to catch salmon
for .cultural and
religiousc~lebrations, for sale and to feed
their families,
Beginning about the mid-l800s, commer-
, cial salmon harvesters steadily increased
their catch. ~ish wheels, nets and traps toqk
large numbers of salmon out of the Colum-
~ia to feed the booming ca:rlning industrY.
; Harvesters took so many salmon that by the
1870s there was concern for the future of the
runs, ahd the first salmon hatcheries were
built.

.0' . . urstra. tegy
.. calls for .
. .reducing
the -
squawfish
population
by .
2~ p.E ~rceht
WIthIn
five years.

..

,

ie,

Reduce and
refine salmon
fishing

/'

1925 and 1927 .
Federal.Rivers and Harbors Acts call for plans to control
flooding, generate electricity and enable navigation on
the Columbia.' Ten dams are Planned for the Columbia.

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