Fish Or Be Fished

Hatchery.

This week a Federal judge has stepped into the local salmon debate in a big way. Judge Haggerty has ordered the Sandy River Fish Hatchery to significantly change their operating procedures, described as "arbitrary and unlawful", to adequately protect wild salmon populations. While few studies have been conducted on the impact of hatchery salmon on wild populations, those that have indicate that increases in hatchery populations are correlated with decreases in wild salmon. Why is this happening now? Because in 2008 a pair of dams were removed in an attempt to increase the area and improve the quality of salmon habitat along the river. Unfortunately, removing the dams also removed the barriers between the hatchery and wild populations, fostering unanticipated inbreeding and competition. I think everyone can agree that protection of wild species needs to take precedence over the introduction of farmed species, so why is this being adjudicated at the Federal level? Because in Oregon, salmon is gold and hatchery fish are what feed the coffers. But I do not believe that it is time to give up on the wild salmon. I think they have some fight in them yet. Let's help.

Last year I wrote an essay about the salmon for the Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest. It won third place. You can read it here:

http://www.oregonquarterly.com/summer2013/13-counting.php

References

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/01/releasing_sandy_river_hatchery.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2011/04/sandy_river_hatchery_jumps_to.html

Friday Night Fish Fry

dam.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in conjunction with the Bonneville Power Administration and several other federal and state agencies announced last week that they will resume "Sea Lion removal" along the Columbia River this week. To be clear, "Sea Lion removal" is not the transportation of Sea Lions to alternative habitats without dwindling sources of food or radioactive water, its just killing Sea Lions, either with a rifle if you're a good shot, or by lethal injection (if you're not). Why, you might ask, are we killing Sea Lions? The official story is because they have migrated upriver in search of food, depleting the increasingly fragile salmon population. But really, its not how much salmon they eat, it's that they won't pay $10 a pound for it. So you see, the Sea Lions have to go.

Don't get me wrong, the decreasing salmon population is distressing, both for the salmon and as an indication of the overall health of our waterways. After constructing 25 dams on the Columbia and an additional 250 more throughout the watershed, the wild salmon population has dropped from 10 million to 300,000. The last thing the salmon should have to deal with on their long and treacherous life journey is a natural predator. Besides, this policy clearly reflects an acknowledgment of the impacts of human consumption and energy generation on natural systems while restoring balance between species and promoting biodiversity.