How Long Before These Salmon Are Gone? ‘Maybe 20 Years’

How long before the entire food chain collapses. We must learn to coexist with the wild species and support their environment.

I have kayaked the mfs many times and even run dagger falls. One of the treats was to drift over the pools and look at the salmon redds. I was stunned when I read that they had battled past dams and 900+ miles to get there. It was even more incredible that the streams in the area used to be full of these amazing creatures. There was a small creek that flows thru twin falls idaho and into the snake river was the highest salmon run in the west. Those are all gone now. What was pristine water is regulated thru dams, canals and used on fields. The water that comes back to the snake is now more of a danger to drink than is the white water. The "upside" and I use the word loosely, is that we have plenty of potatoes and cows to eat even if the salmon are mostly gone. We can "save" an area as wilderness, but it is not isolated from the effects of civilization and human effects. Salmon connect the ocean and mountains and rivers and all the creatures in between. We are destroying this web to grow more and more people. Now that nature is on the ropes we need make some sacrifices to try to restore some balance to how we live. The planet can support billions of humans and very few salmon or it can support a reasonable number of humans and a variety of other creatures including salmon. It's becoming increasingly clear it can't do both.

Oh no ... due to health issues I have to be really careful with my diet, and wild salmon are a huge part of it. (Omega-3s, less mercury then tuna, etc.) I’m sad for the fish but also worried for human health. How can we survive on a planet no longer producing the foods healthiest for us to eat?

During the late 70's I wrote extensively about the campaign to set the Middle Fork Salmon drainage aside as the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area, which was accomplished by Church and Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus in the last days of the Carter administration. Before that I wrote to keep loggers and the Forest Service from re-entering the South Fork of the Salmon drainage 20 some years after their first large scale logging intrusion in that drainage had virtually wiped out one of the most prolific salmon runs in Idaho. The battle over Salmon in the Northwest has been going on long before I arrived on that scene, and look where we are now, after billions have been spent on efforts to work around the real sources of the problem. We're not going to solve it with tweaks to the system and piecemeal reform. Conditions on the Middle Fork have changed, by all accounts, even though it is protected by the largest designated wilderness area in the Lower 48. There have been huge fires in the drainage in the last 15 years (climate change). In the 70's we used to lean out of our whitewater boats and drink the water straight from the river. The water was so clear you could count the pebbles on the bottom twenty feet down as you drifted by. Now the river, my friends tell me, runs muddy far more often and I'm sure many of the spawning beds are choked with sediment. The dams are the main culprit, but the problem is much bigger than that. Save the planet, save the fish.

The rock in this image looks very much like a leopard. emerging from the current, as it hunts fish. ...and some good news. My nephew works with The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry/Lake Ontario Management, Canada and is part of a team that has seen huge success in improving the stock of Rainbow Trout (steelhead), Brown Trout, Pacific and Atlantic salmon stock in the Ganaraska River. Here's a link if you want to read more: http://hooklineandsinker.ca/migratory-the-ganaraska-river-or-the-ganny-port-hope-ontario/

Since May Every day there are 5-10 large fishing boats off the coast of Daytona Beach with their nets in the water. Why do humans continue to eat animals. Makes me sad.

A well-written article that highlights the challenges of competing interests that span a large and diverse geographic area. While the steady decline of salmon in the PNW is well-known, there is only now a broader realization of how important this species is as a bell-weather for the entire ecosystem. Advances in genetic science and monitoring technology have created troves of data on how to better manage these fisheries, but unfortunately politics and legacy management practices are the real impediment to saving these fish and in turn the this complex habitat. Hatchery fish create a constant loop of intervention and create a host of unintended consequences, which we will be unable to sustain in cost or effort over time. If stakeholders really want to break this cycle, a more thorough analysis needs to be done on 1) how necessary the power from these dams is 2) what alternatives exist (not to mention their cost and energy source) and 3) who controls all state and federal dollars for management, how they are spent, and what we get from it.

To lose salmon is to lose a multitude of species who rely upon it for sustenance. In order to replenish this species, we must return Mother Nature to her Natural Order. To not do so is to accept that the death knell upon our planet has been felled and that this once glorious pristine planet will need to regenerate for a few million years without we who destroyed it.

"The National Marine Fisheries Service is considering a proposal to kill up to 1,100 sea lions annually along the Columbia River, because they eat salmon as they gather to spawn". Humans trying to manage Mother Nature typically doesn't work as planned. It's like playing Whack-a-Mole, beating down one issue to only have another newly created one pop up. Humans really need to give in to Mother Nature's time proven methods and rejoin the Natural Order. When it is shown our efforts are harming the Natural Order, it seems the only sensible strategy is retreat. We cannot beat Mother Nature at her own game.

"Salmon are a keystone species in this region, critical as a food source for animals from bears to eagles to insects. " Humans need to stop over-fishing and eating salmon.

I worked as an environmental attorney - in fisheries - for 25 years. This story approaches “Fake News.” It is certainly old news. First, it would take an Act of Congress to remove the dams. Not going to happen. The dams were built to provide low cost clean electricity to rural areas which private utilities refused to serve. The hydro power they generate is “carbon free” and replacing them would in time require building gas turbines. The dams provide flood control . Now, City of Portland, Oregon does not flood. They provide navigation for products that would otherwise be moved by truck or rail. The dams are not gong to be removed. And producing enough fish to “save the Orcas” is laughable. The only bigger laugh is that Orcas - which we in the NW love - would prefer “wild fish” over “hatchery fish.” I am all in for more wild fish but not to feed whales. The future of our salmon is uncertain. Much depends on global warming. And the warming of ocean water makes it less likely the fish the salmon need to grow to maturity will be present. The future of “salmon and dams” and the river they depend on is now - and has been for more than a decade - being litigated before the Federal District Court of Oregon. Now matter what your opinion on”hatchery or wild” fish and “dams or no dams,” all should be able to agree that this is a terrible way to make polcy.

Salmon in 20, us in 100. If you want the latter in 20 too, re-elect Trump.

Seeing as salmon are going to be gone soon, how about we draw up plans to drain the river basin and convert it to fracking and cattle grazing?

We need to put a ban on commercial fishing.. It would obviously have to become a global effort due to the transitory nature of salmon. North America is fished to 90-100% of recommended capacity. Obviously this isn't sustainable. I would definitely sacrifice my consumption of fish for several years to support the health of the planet and I'm sure most people would agree. And I am so tired of seeing bans on non-commercial fishing, when it is commercial fisherman who are making such a detrimental impact. The effect of salmon on various levels of ecosystems is huge....Predator and prey feed on them and their degradation is key for fertilizing plant life and keeping the water rich in nutrients for other animals and insects. They literally impact every level of the ecosystem. I am once again dismayed and shocked at the lack of response from international governments to address this. How is this not a public concern?

That's ok. The whole planet will be gone in 12 years, remember? All this fear porn demands a center-fold... https://emcphd.wordpress.com

"“Wild fish are much bigger and more lipid-rich,” she said. “Having to catch the equivalent of 350 pounds in hatchery fish, which are smaller and lower quality, expends significantly more energy. They have to work a lot harder for their meals.”" This is demonstrably false, hatchery fish are compositionally identical to natural ones.

I live about 15 miles from the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers. As with many issues, this is complex. The dams are certainly a factor - removing the four Snake River dams would possible help, but the largest dams on are on the Columbia. Removing them has never been discussed and is an impossibility. The Snake River dams provide power, but more importantly to the local economy allow navigation as far as Lewiston, ID. The Puget Sound orca population is under great stress from many things, including it's food source. Commercialization of the Sound, naval sonic activity, whale watching, and commercial fishing all have an impact on the southern resident Orca population. The Army Corps of Engineers has spent billions on salmon but the numbers of Chinook continue to decline. Ocean temperatures as pointed out is a major factor. Sea Lions, Terns, Double Crested Cormorants have all been killed trying to protect salmon runs. How much economic pain are we willing to suffer in order to save the salmon - and save the planet - is really the discussion that needs to be occurring.

If we do not act on the environment now it may be too late when stuff hits the fan in the near future. Clean & renewable energy as well as renewable natural resources will drive a new economy. We can’t continue to prop our economies up on our current systems. Innovation will lead the way for better financial markets.

I don’t think we have even 10 years for the salmon. The situation is dire. I’m especially worried about the warming ocean. Dams are problematic because in other ways they are a “clean” source of power. But I think we need to remove the dams and maybe even stop eating salmon for a few years to let the population recover.