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- Title
Snake River Spring and Summer Chinook Salmon-The Choice for Recovery.
- Authors
Nemeth, Douglas J.; Kiefer, Russell B.
- Abstract
The Snake River was once the most productive tributary of one of the greatest salmon producing river systems in the world, the Columbia River. Four dams completed on the lower Columbia River and Snake River from 1938 to 1961 resulted in decreased, but still robust adult returns of spring and summer chinook salmon () to the Snake River basin. Four additional dams completed from 1968 to 1975 resulted in a systematic decrease in smolt-to-adult return rate that has yet to be reversed. Snake River spring and summer chinook salmon were listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1992. Recovery efforts to date have been based on a mechanistic foundation (i.e., based on engineering and technology) and have failed to achieve recovery. Comprehensive investigations into the plight of Snake River spring and summer chinook salmon concluded that restoring some level of pre-dam ecosystem function, rather than continuing to rely on mechanistic actions, has a high probability of achieving recovery. The choice to restore some level of pre-dam ecosystem function will require a significant change in management of the Columbia and Snake rivers.
- Publication
Fisheries, 1999, Vol 24, Issue 10, p16
- ISSN
0363-2415
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1577/1548-8446(1999)024<0016:SRSASC>2.0.CO;2