Salmon Population Management in the Northwest

Andrew Gingerich

Senior Seminar Research Paper

Fall, 2005

Introduction
    Description of goals of paper
       Outline threats to salmon
       Describe economic interests of salmon and habitat
       Describe moral/ethical and religious aspects of salmon and rivers

Thesis- The current population management policies and the use of salmon habitat to pursue economic interests do not adequately address the interests of various groups in the Northwest.

Threats to salmon
    Fishing
    Habitat Destruction
    Dams
       Grand Coulee
       Lower Snake
    Hatchery programs
       Genetic dilution
       Disease
       Competition
       Perceptions of healthy salmon population
Economic interests
    Sport, Commercial, and Traditional Fishing
    Navigability, irrigation, flood control
    Hydropower
Moral, Ethical, and religious implications
    Ecological importance
        Marine nitrogen
    Cultural importance
    Spirituality of salmon
    Capitalist values versus other interest
        Displacement of salmon and human populations
        Destruction of natural capital
    Christian stewardship and salmon population management
Conclusion
Bibliography
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Introduction:
    Salmon are an important biological, economic, and cultural element of the Northwest. Because of these various roles, there are many different views on how the population of salmon should be managed. The environment of salmon also offers many economic opportunities that pose risks to salmon. As a result, salmon populations have experienced a sharp decline from historical numbers, which in turn prompted the beginnings of hatchery programs to keep the numbers of salmon up. The hatchery programs of the Northwest are often viewed as a great success due to the rising numbers of salmon. However, it is important to asses the effectiveness of these programs as well as the numerous interests in salmon and the economic implications of protecting them and their environment. By doing so, the ethical implications of the current population management programs will be described. The threats to salmon in the Northwest are: fishing, habitat destruction, and hatchery programs. Each of these threats involves numerous cultural and economic interests. Some of the economic possibilities involved with salmon populations are employment as a fishing guide, industrial laborer, and farmer. Other economic opportunities include cheap electricity and hydroelectric power generation. Culturally, salmon are an essential part of Native American's religion, economy, history, and identity. Salmon have also become an integral part of the culture and identity of many in modern society as well. The current population management policies and the use of salmon habitat to pursue economic interests do not adequately address the interests of various groups in the Northwest.

Threats to Salmon:
    The reason for concern about the salmon population is the drastic decrease in total numbers as well as numerous threatened and extinct strains. Total numbers of returning wild salmon are approximately 200,000-300,000. This is less than 3 percent of the historical 10-16 million (Montainge, 2001). In addition to overall decline in numbers of wild salmon, certain strains are currently under threat and salmon are extinct in other areas. Northwest salmonoids that are on the endangered species list are the Upper-Columbia River spring Chinook run, the Snake River Sockeye, and the Upper-Columbia River Steelhead. These runs are considered to be Evolutionarily Significant Units and are listed as separate species on the list, as are many other salmonoids that are on the threatened species list (Ruckelshaus et al, 2002). There is also the matter of 1000 miles of riparian habitat eliminated by the Grand Coulee Dam in 1941, putting an abrupt extinction of all upstream salmon (Montaigne, 2001). A system wide analysis in 1991 shows that of 214 native and naturally spawning runs of anadromous fish (fish that hatch and spawn in fresh water but mature in the ocean) 106 are extinct, 101 in extreme risk of extinction, 58 at moderate risk, and 54 of concern (Kolmes, 2004). Furthermore, "Pacific salmon have been extirpated from nearly 40 percent of their historical habitat in the Pacific Northwest, and of the remaining salmon populations, almost one half are thought to be at risk of extinction" (Ruckelshaus et al, 2002). There are a number of human interactions involved with this decline in salmon populations. Three of these influences (fishing, dams, and hatchery programs) occur directly within the freshwater habitat and will be addressed here; not addressing the more tenuous human influences on salmon habitat in fresh and marine environments such as global climate change and whaling.
Fishing:
    Obviously, fishing has an impact on the mortality rates of salmon. At the turn of the century as much as 43 million pounds of salmon and steelhead were harvested each year (Montainge, 2001). This intense fishing reduced the catch to 25 million pounds by the 1930's (Montainge, 2001). The increased mortality of fishing still occurs in two ways, the direct mortality of catching and killing fish and the 30 percent mortality rate of hook and release situations estimated by the Pacific Salmon Commission (Ruckelshaus et al, 2002). However, reduction in harvest practices do not always result in an improved population as exemplified by a study in the Puget Sound where decrease in harvest levels did not improve population status (Ruckelshaus et al, 2002).
Habitat Destruction:
    Human interaction degrades salmon habitat in two ways, 1) general large scale trends such as percent of urbanized or agricultural land, poor water quality, and road density, and 2) local-scale issues like amount of woody debris, temperature and flow, stream channel morphology, proportions of pools, riffles, and glides, and nutrient content (Ruckelshaus et al, 2002).
Dams:
    Dams are harmful to salmon populations for a number of reasons. Clearly their expansive concrete structures are a barrier to salmon as they migrate as adults back to their stream of origin. However, most dams are equipped with fish ladders that allow fish to pass by them with only a small percentage of the run being stopped. But this leaves some that succeed in swimming through the ladders too tired to spawn (Montainge, 2001). The effect of dams on migrating smolts on their ocean bound journey is much more problematic. "Studies show that 8-10 percent of migrating salmon are killed at each dam and pool, not by turbines but explosion of swim bladders (the organ in fish controlling buoyancy) as they pass through the dams (Montainge, 2001). Slackwaters provide the largest danger to migrating salmon smolts for a number of reasons. One is the increased surface area of the water causes the temperature to rise higher than salmon prefer. This also increases the number of predator fish such as bass, walleye, and northern pike minnow which feed on the young salmon. Furthermore, the lack of current slows the trip to the ocean or causes salmon to become lost. The slowed current is especially a problem for chinook salmon, which make the trip to the ocean headed upstream, relying on current to push them along (Duncan, 2001).
    To combat this problem, some dams release water during the salmon migration to maintain a current to help juvenile salmon make the trip to sea, however not all dams have this capability. Due to the inability of some dams to release water and the economic interests of irrigation, navigability, and power generation, another program for assisting juvenile salmons migration has been devised (Duncan, 2001). This plan involves collecting and barging smolt downriver and releasing them below the dams (Higgins, 2001). While this program is heralded as a success because of the 98 percent survival rate, salmon transported in this manner do not reach the 2percent return rate that is the minimum required for a viable population (Montaigne, 2001).
Grand Coulee Dam:
   The dam that is the most problematic is the Grand Coulee. This massive dam is 1.6 km wide and 170m high. Grand Coulee's generation of 6809 MW of electricity makes it the largest producer of energy in the US. Furthermore, it offers irrigation to 267,000 hectares of farmland and provides flood control worth $20 million (Ortolano and Cushing, 2002). All this comes at a very high price. The 28,300 hectares inundated by the dam forced the relocation of 2000-4000 non-Native Americans, 2000 members of the Coville tribe and 100-250 Spokane. In 1937, it was estimated that $250,000- $300,000 would be lost in commercial and sport fishing potential, which is like $2.8 million- $3.4 million 1998 dollars. (Ortolano and Cushing, 2002). The resultant extinction of salmon runs above the dam also was in violation with US treaties with Native American groups that guaranteed fishing rights.
Lower Snake River Dams:
    Currently, salmon conservationists point to four dams on the Snake River (the Columbia's largest tributary) as problematic because of the threat that they pose to salmon and the interesting economic implications of these dams. These dams are particularly harmful to salmon because there is no way for them to release water to assist juvenile salmon migration (Montaigne, 2001). As a result, salmon in the region are in particular danger. A summary of the region's salmon populations follow.
    -1986: all Idaho, Oregon, and Washington coho dependent on the Snake River migratory corridor, extinct
    -1990 through 1999: 20 sockeye, total, returned to the same vast system
    -1997: all surviving Snake system salmon and salmon threatened or endangered
    -1998: 306 fall chinook returned to the system (down from 100,000 or more per run)
    -1999: Idaho spring/summer chinook, once the largest run of its kind in the world, down to 2,400 returning adults, leaving many key streams with no spawning for the first time in history
    -2017: system-wide extinction predicted (Duncan, 2001)
The reasons many give in favor of the dams remaining are, the irrigation provided to only 20 farms, 5 percent of the pacific northwest's power, and the 1,500 jobs provided by navigability to the Port of Lewiston (which is the farthest inland port in the US) (Montaigne, 2001).
Hatchery Programs:
    Hatcheries are often perceived as the solution to increasing salmon numbers and restoring runs. However, they have also been identified as a threat to population health. The detrimental effects of hatcheries go back more than 100 years, involving genetic dilution, disease, competition, and altered perceptions of population health (Kolmes, 2004).
Genetic Dilution:
    Genetic dilution is one problem with salmon hatcheries. Genetic dilution occurs because hatchery populations also spawn with native salmon, allowing for genes not selected for by natural reproduction to "contaminate" the population (Shouse, 2003). One problem associated with the genetic dilution of native populations is that a large egg size is not selected for as severely as it is in the case of natural reproduction. As a result, hatchery population's average egg size has decreased from 0.27g in 1988 to 0.20g in 2001. (Shouse, 2003) Furthermore, there is a study to support the idea that this trait will effect native populations. Populations in four streams in Canada were compared and only the two that were supplemented with hatchery salmon experienced a decline of egg size (Shouse, 2003).
Disease:
    Hatcheries also have a detrimental effect on native populations because of diseases and lowered resistance that are spread by hatchery fish. One instance of lowered resistance due to genetic dilution through introduction of nonnative fish in Fishhawk Creek, reduced the resistance of the native population to the local parasite Ceratomyxa shasta (Kolmes, 2004). Other diseases have been transmitted by hatchery fish, such as swimbladder sarcoma virus, hemorrhagic septicemia, and parasites Nucleospora salmonis and Myxobolus cerebalis (Kolmes, 2004).
Competition:
    Competition of hatchery fish with natives is another problem hatchery programs present to salmon populations. This happens because hatcheries ignore the number of fish that a stream can support and as a result there is a food shortage and both populations' mortality increases (Kolmes, 2004).
Perceptions of Healthy Population:
    The perceptions of the hatchery programs is also an important part of salmon population management because, "the abundance of returning adults of some seasonal runs (such as spring chinook) often provides an illusion that the fish are faring well in the Columbia River Basin" (Kolmes, 2004). These perceptions not only effect salmon, but also help legitimize the practices such as dam building that pose problems for fish and people.

Economic Interests:
    Salmon, and their habitat, are intricately involved with the economy of the northwest. Healthy salmon populations represent huge potential for the Northwest's economy, but other, more traditional industries, have also proved to be a large part of the Northwest's economy, even though some of them jeopardize salmon and the economic possibilities they represent.
Sport, Commercial, and Traditional Fishing:
    Commercial fishing is one Northwest industry that has suffered along with salmon populations. It is estimated that at least 10,000 jobs along the Columbia alone have been lost because of the reduction of the population of salmon (Montaigne, 2001). One wonders why these lost jobs are tolerable in the eyes of policy makers while jobs lost to industries thriving on cheap electricity and subsidized farming are not? Sport fishing also has a huge economic potential in the Northwest. For instance, the summer steelhead run on the snake river, a single run that is in shambles, generated 2,700 jobs and $90 million dollars, with an estimated 13,400- 27,700 jobs and $2.6 billion restored if the four dams posing the greatest threat to the runs of this area were removed (Duncan, 2001). Despite the losses to commercial and sport fishing, the imposition that population management and the way salmon's habitat has been commercialized, has been the most detrimental to Native American's economy (Duncan, 2001). Salmon meant, among other things, subsistence to many Native American groups of the Northwest (Hathorn, 1992). Salmon also drove an economic system that spanned much of North America. Celilo Falls, the center of this trade network, attracted traders from as far away as central America. This made Celilo Falls the greatest tribal gathering place west of the Mississippi for ten millennia (Duncan, 2001). This location was flooded in 1956 by the Dalles Dam, ending the longest permanent settlement west of the Mississippi (Center for Columbia River History). The economic and cultural effect that the completion of this particular dam had on Native American groups is comparable to the hypothetical flooding of Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, Fifth Avenue, and the New York Stock exchange (Duncan, 2001).
Navigation, Irrigation, and Flood Control:
    Economic factors other than fishing that have a role in salmon population management and the heath of populations are the benefits of dams. Navigation is one important aspect of Dams that enable much of the economy in the Northwest. The four Snake River dams that are implicit in the decline of salmon dependent on this corridor make transportation of agricultural produce cheap. If these dams are breached farmers might have to pay 10 to 30 cents more for a bushel of wheat, for example (Montaigne, 2001). However, agriculture in this area is already subsidized (Duncan, 2001). Irrigation from dams all over this system allow for production of crops in areas otherwise not arable. The irrigation provided by Grand Coulee dam alone irrigates 640,000 acres enabling the production of 95 percent of Washington state's 5.4 million ton potato crop (Montaigne, 2001).
Hydropower:
    Hydropower provided by the Dams of the Northwest are a huge part of the economy of the region. Electricity is 40 percent cheaper in the Northwest than the national average (Hathorn, 1992). This is because of the 5.5 million megawatt hours per year that has an annual revenue of $153 million per year (Hamlet, Huppert, and Lettenmaier, 2002). This massive amount of power generated has enabled industry that has been important to the US. "The four lower Columbia dams have brought... thanks to abundant electricity, the aluminum that became the aircraft that helped win World War II" (Duncan, 2001). This industry however plays a minimal role in the economy, at least as employment goes. The eleven aluminum plants, which provide one fourth of one percent of employment in the Northwest, use 20 percent of the electricity (Raloff, 2001).

Moral, Ethical, and Religious Implications:
    The economic possibilities salmon and their habitat create controversy over the best policy regarding salmon. However, there are also many other factors that are important to consider when determining population management. Salmon are important to the ecology, culture, and spirituality of the Northwest as well as the economic possibilities they and their habitat represent.
Ecological Importance:
    Maintaining native runs of salmon is important because of the genetic diversity of different strains. This is because a local extinction of salmon means that the genetic material that has evolved to the specific conditions of the locale will be lost. "The surviving anadromous fish of the Columbia/Snake now depend utterly upon the Snake River migratory corridor to reach Idaho, eastern Oregon, and the southwest corner of Washington. And though not many realize it, these last wild strains are the genetic engine that continues to give us all Pacific Salmon- even those raised in netpens and hatcheries" (Duncan, 2001). To explain the importance of maintaining native populations one must consider the problem with introducing salmon from other locals. For example, coastal salmon introduced to inland waters of Idaho froze to death when ice formed in the high elevations or died in oxygen deprived heated waters in the Idaho sun, whereas native salmon instinctualy winter in deep pools where they will not freeze and find deep shaded holes to escape the summer heat (Duncan, 2001).
Marine Nitrogen:
The effect that healthy salmon runs have on local ecosystem is important not only for their own species but a critical part of the nutrient cycle of rivers. '"The dead salmon fertilize the lakes with their own bodies, and everything else living in the lake benefits from this nutrient source," said Irene Gregory-Eaves of Queen's University. "When there is a strong salmon run, there are a lot of nutrients being released, and this, in turn, stimulates production of the lake's algae"' (National, 2000). This is one reason why it is important to consider more than the simple numbers of salmon- because overall numbers do not take into account the localized changes. These changes include extinctions and the effects that has on, humans, salmon, and the health of the ecosystem fueled by the nutrients which salmon bring from the sea.
Cultural Importance:
    Salmon are also important to the cultural identity of Nothwesterner's. This can be seen by the Oregon license plate, which have a salmon on them. Salmon are also visible around the Northwest as artistic representations of them appear in many tourist locations, especially along the Columbia river and in coastal towns. This shows a sense of pride that people in the Northwest feel about their region and the salmon they share it with. Hathorn describes the importance salmon have for Northwesterner's identity. "If the Pacific Northwest has any soul, it rests in a strong, tasty and bug-eyed fish, the salmon" (Hathorn, 1992)
    Salmon are also culturally significant to Native Americans as well as European settlers. This is what one Native American (Leroy Seth) has to say about the importance of salmon to the Nez Perce society- "We learn a lot of lessons from watching animals. The salmon are one of our best teachers. We learn from them that we have to do certain things by the seasons. We watch the salmon as smolts going to the ocean and observe them returning home. We see them fulfill the circle of life, just as we must do. If the salmon aren't here, the circle becomes broken and we all suffer" (Center for Columbia River History).
Spirituality of Salmon:
    The anadromous qualities of salmon give them and interesting spiritual aspect that is celebrated by native tribes (Hathorn, 1992). Duncan describes the spiritual aspect of salmon this way-"There is a fire in water. There is an invisible flame, hidden in water, that creates life. And in this bewildering age, no matter how dark or glib some humans try to make it, wild salmon still climb rivers and mountain ranges in absolute earnest, solely to make contact with that flame. Words can't reach deep enough to embody this wonder. Only wild salmon can embody it. Each migration, each annual return to the sea, these incomparable creatures climb our inland mountains and sacrifice their lives, that tiny silver offspring may be born of an impossibly watery flame" (Duncan, 2001).
    Aside from the anadromous aspect, there is the thrill of salmon fishing. "I have lived! The American continent may now sink under the sea, for I have taken the best it yields" writes Kipling after salmon fishing (Hathorn, 1992). Seward, an Sanpiol Indian, recalls the trill of salmon fishing in the now inundated Kettle Falls "To see the big salmon come up and jump and hit right on top of the falls- it was a thrill" (Montaigne, 2001).
Capitalist Values versus other Interests:
    The many interests in salmon and their habitat put different groups at odds when it comes to how the population is managed. As a result the current management policy supports capitalist values and the traditional economic practices of that system, agriculture and industry. Hatchery supplementation supports this system by keeping numbers of salmon high enough that proponents of the energy, irrigation, flood control, and navigation created by dams can be said to not be harming to salmon, although the effect on native salmon is devastating (Kolmes, 2004). Furthermore, hatchery programs do not address the problems associated with local extinctions and the threat to salmons survival through genetic dilution and habitat destruction (Kolmes, 2004). Population management as it is now also does not involve any regard for the spiritual aspect of natural salmon reproduction and their anadromous life.
Displacement of Salmon and Human Populations:
    The industrial/agricultural use of salmon habitat has also lead to the human displacements as well as massive extinctions and threats to salmon. In addition to the displacement of Celilo Village, the Coville, and the Spokane peoples, many Indian groups have been culturally displaced by the loss of their traditional fishing in direct violation of US government treaties such as the 1885 Yakima treaty, leading many tribes to rely on the less noble gambling industry for an income. (Knight, 2000).
Destruction of Natural Capital:
    Another sign of the industrial/agricultural model of capitalism taking precedence in decision making regarding salmon population management is the affront of the economic possibilities of commercial and sport fishing. These have been shown to be valuable sources of economic potential of the Northwest, but are unable to achieve their full capacity due to the declining populations that face the destructive forces of the dams used for agriculture and industry.
Christian Stewardship and Salmon Population Management:
    Another way to look at the problem of salmon population management is a Christian perspective. Consider the passage from Genesis- "And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created the great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged foul after his kind: and God said that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the sea" (Duncan, 2001). This passage makes the preservation of salmon a matter beyond US law, (referring to the endangered species act and treaties with Native Americans) but rather a biblical mandate (Duncan, 2001). Duncan also points out that the dominion over the earth that it refers to rule and not destructive domination. With this in mind he points out that humans will not be able to rule salmon if they have been driven to extinction. Moreover, Christians are to celebrate the creator and the creation, not to destroy it, or to allow an industrial/agricultural god to replace the respect and wonder of creation.
Conclusion:
    All of these interests involving salmon can not be satisfied by a system which releases genetically inferior fish, that are potentially harmful to native fish, while habitat is continually destroyed by capitalist interests in the salmon's habitat and propagates perceptions of population health in spite of contrary evidence.

Bibliography:
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Duncan, David James. (2001) My Story as Told by Water: San Francisco: Sierra Book Club

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