the film forum library tutorial contact

Dams and Their Impact Salmon and Smolts by Edward L. Fisk Idaho Statesman, August 24, 2007

The Statesman continues to call for breaching of the lower Snake River dams. And each year, it seems that more people are getting behind the idea. The consensus is that the dams and reservoirs are killing salmon smolts in such numbers that not enough smolts reach the ocean, grow and return to sustain our salmon runs. This makes the dams and reservoirs "the limiting factor." If this is true, then the limiting aspect should be amply evident in the yearly counts of adult salmon.

• 1974 - The last dam was completed. (After a few years, fish numbers started to decline.)

• 1994 - Salmon numbers reached a record low. (The dams must be very limiting.)

• 1997 - A good run of salmon returned to Idaho. (Oops, these fish, as smolts, must have somehow avoided the negative impacts of the dams.)

• 2000 through 2004 - Record numbers of salmon. (About as unlimiting as you can get.)

Related Pages:
Idaho Chinook Still in Trouble by Roger Phillips, Idaho Statesman, 7/29/7