Redwood Reader

2. Hatchery Salmon To Count as Wildlife
Thursday, April 29, 2004; Page A01 Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51480-2004Apr28.html

Blaine Harden ot the Washington Post reported today administration officials will include hatchery raised salmon along with wild fish when determining listing on the Endagered Species list this summer. This threatens 15 years of habitat restoration for wild fish, and opens doors for all kinds of land use and development such as subdivisions, farms, dams and logging. "They are enthusiastic advocates of counting hatchery fish when assessing the survival chances of wild salmon. Unlike their wild cousins, hatchery fish can be bred without ecosystem-wide modifications to highways, farms and dams." wrote Harden. Environmentalists are angry that it appears to be an attempt to ease restricitons on coastal coho in particular after a case in Oregon from 2001 in which U.S. District Judge Michael R. Hogan found the government had made a mistake counting only wild fish and not hatchery fish when making a listing. The administration chose not to appeal, apparently shifting course from previous efforts. Six experts wrote to the magazine science last year saying hatchery salmon cannot save the wild runs was not responded to because "said they were later told that some of their conclusions about hatchery fish were inappropriate for official government reports." The new policy will be published in June in the Federal Register and then be opened to public comment.
Bob Lohn, Northwest regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service thought the judges reasoning was clear in that hatchery fish can have a vital role in restoration when properly used, and that it was taking a possible tool out of use for limited benefit.
Land practice managemnt will not seriously improve until the role of glomalin is considered.(See Shrinking Watersheds). New regulatons will not prevent ignorance of natural law or its consequences. Much of the ESA is written to preserve habitat that often needs restoration to stabilize. We preserve the impacted deteriorating situation without being able to make needed repairs in a timely fashion. We think excavation of pools and runs in triburies, especially in areas without inadequate culverts or other restrictions on the fishes movement, suffering from siltation is the type of program that would have huge benefits, and are happy to see and monitor the pilot program at Bull Creek.
It looks like the Mattole Salmon Group may be allowed to run its standard hatchbox program, at least from this. The program is exactly the type of positive use that can be made of hatcheries. I would personally like to see a legal way to raise fry living in pools that will dry up at some point in the summer so they can be returned after the rain begins. This would not be necessary after a pool building regimen.
It is easy to be outraged about rolling back hard won protections. It is very hard to compromise with uncompromising development, especially concerning natural resources. Sustainability demand we have and use the understanding of the natural world that supports us. Sometimes that means preservation does not suit the circumstances. I find it troubling there is little or no science fiction relating to improved natural resource condtions in the future, which is as we make it.