Data backs dam breaching
In a Dec. 11 Tribune article headlined “Power and Conservation Council reports progress,” council members were pleased the recent 10-year (2014-23) average number of adult salmon and steelhead entering the mouth of the Columbia River was 2.3 million fish, down only slightly from the previous 10-year average of 2.4 million, but significantly greater than the 1990s 10-year average of 1.3 million.
These numbers don’t distinguish where these fish are destined, what species they are or whether they’re of hatchery or natural origin. Many of these fish migrate to lower Columbia River hatcheries or, in the case of naturally spawning sockeye, of which there were 700,000 this year, mostly into upper Columbia system Canadian tributaries.
There’s been little to crow about for wild salmon and steelhead migrating to the Snake River system, all of which continue to be federally listed as threatened or endangered.
In 1992, when 12,673 adult wild Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon were counted at Lower Granite Dam, they became Endangered Species Act-listed as threatened. In 2023, 30 years later, and after more than $18 billion has been spent on their recovery, only 7,219 wild adults were counted at Lower Granite Dam, a 43% decline.
These data confirm that lower Snake River restoration, as has been called for since the 1998 Plan for Analyzing and Testing Hypotheses report and most recently in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries’ “Rebuilding” report, with ... dam breaching being the “centerpiece” and “essential” action, must occur for Idaho’s salmon to recover.
Richard Scully
Lewiston
