From the Oregonian: "For years, the massive hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers have been blamed for killing young salmon on their downriver migration to the ocean.
But a striking new study released Monday found that for some endangered salmon and steelhead stocks, just as many young fish survive their journey through the Snake and Columbia dams as survive a similar trip down Canada's Fraser River, which has no dams.
Even longtime fish biologists were flabbergasted by the finding. They figured fish would have an easier time in rivers without dams than those with dams.
But even the authors of the study, including scientists based at Oregon State University, disagree over the meaning of the results and whether they indicate that Columbia dams are not as harmful to fish as long thought."
Seeing this story, I took my wife and a couple of our grandchildren to Bonneville Dam today (10/28) where fisheries biologists are working hard on the adult coho run and preparing for the incoming full fall Chinook run. Those biologists already processed a record sockeye run earlier this summer, the best in a quarter century. So while it is in the middle of the coho run and the fall Chinook are yet to appear in mass, here are some fish figures for Bonneville Dam adult salmon processing station:
The trap opened on August 24 for the fall count: So far, 46,782 coho and 16,487 Chinook have been collected. The total for the 2007 fall season was 11,305 Chinook and 34,366 coho. The total for the 2006 fall season was 17,823 Chinook and 42,003 coho.
Just maybe the study is right!
Don C. Brunell, President (DonB@awb.org)
