Re: “Take out dams and keep the Snake River salmon’s last, best place” [Dec. 13, Opinion]:
Chris Wooden’s impassioned name for Snake River dam removing misses some important info. A better look will present that the associated fee will probably be excessive however it’s going to virtually actually not lead to restoring historic Chinook runs.
Pacific salmon numbers are at report highs. Huge hatcheries in Asia are flooding the market in order that the salmon group is in disaster. Chinook are in hassle, however not due to dams. Regardless of nice effort and cash spent, Chinook restoration stays dismal. Quite a few research present that ocean warming uniquely harms Chinook whereas serving to different species like sockeye to flourish.
One other main drawback is predation from harbor seals. Seals within the Salish Sea alone consumed 24 million Chinook in line with a Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-led research — virtually 90% of all harbor seal predation from Alaska to California.
However essentially the most telling research exhibits that Chinook are faring much more poorly on rivers with out dams than with dams. NOAA confirmed that 95% of Chinook have been efficiently passing by dams and supported dams’ existence till the Biden administration arrived, then conveniently modified their long-standing help for the dams.
Chinook restoration is of important significance and restoration depends upon a correct analysis of the issues.
Gerald Baron, Mount Vernon, analysis director, Save Household Farming
Source link
