Phenomenal Fish Runs Demonstrate Federal Salmon Restoration
Plan is Working
(PORTLAND, OR) -- This week saw exciting news in the
Northwest with a new record set for adult sockeye salmon returns and more still
on the way. Today, the count stands at 551,530 adult sockeye salmon passing
through Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, shattering the previous record of
516,000 set in 2012. “Anglers, Native American tribes, fishery managers and
river users alike are thrilled to see such a huge run,” said Terry Flores,
executive director of Northwest RiverPartners. “It is proof positive that the
region’s efforts to restore these iconic fish are working.”
The flood of sockeye returning to the upper reaches of the
Columbia and Snake rivers is expected to continue through July with fishery
managers noting the run hit a high of 34,500 on July 5.
This is especially great news for the Snake River sockeye,
which were listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1991
by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). In 1992, only a single sockeye
returned to the Snake, and today the count stood at 740 moving past Lower
Granite Dam, more than two times the 10-year average. A new “safety net”
sockeye hatchery, improved salmon passage conditions through dams, river
tributary habitat improvements and favorable ocean conditions have combined to
bring these iconic fish back from the brink of extinction.
The great news comes in the same week that an assortment of
anti-dam and commercial fishing groups filed yet another challenge to the
federal hydro system salmon plan, or Biological Opinion. These perennial
critics continue to challenge a plan that, as the sockeye returns show, is clearly
working.
“In light of these huge returns, and more predicted later
this year for fall Chinook and Lower Columbia coho, there is no denying that
the region’s hard work and massive investment is paying off,” said Flores.
“Sadly, the anti-dam groups remain in denial, despite the hard data.” The
massive run comes just months after NOAA Fisheries, the agency responsible for
ensuring protection of salmon listed under the ESA, concluded that the federal
salmon plan is achieving and in some areas exceeding survival goals for the
Northwest’s iconic fish.
“This week’s challenge from anti-dam groups continues their
long history of litigation that can be explained only by their desire to force
the removal of the large federal dams that generate more than 60 percent of the
Northwest’s clean, renewable hydropower,” Flores added.
Total 2014 returns of sockeye at Bonneville now stand at
551,530, which is more than two times the 10-year average.
Northwest RiverPartners’ member organizations include more
than 40,000 farmers, 4 million electric utility customers, thousands of port
jobs, 7,000 small businesses, and hundreds of large businesses that rely on the
economic and environmental benefits of the Columbia and Snake rivers. Northwest
RiverPartners advocates for salmon restoration measures that are based in sound
science, collaboration and cost effectiveness.
