Download The Importance of Pacific Salmon Pacific salmon are keystone

Pacific Salmon Decline -- Defenders of Wildlife
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The Importance of Pacific Salmon
Pacific salmon are keystone species, which means they are essential components of their ecosystem.
Their absence would result in devastating effects to other plants and wildlife species, just as the removal
of a keystone from a masonry arch results in its collapse. Therefore, the impacts of the current decline of
salmon on the ecology of the Pacific Northwest are staggering. As fewer fish return each year to spawn,
there is less food for the animals that depend on them. More than 22 different animals feed on salmon
throughout the fish's life cycle. Such animals include grizzly bears, orcas and various insects.
Salmon ensure the long-term health of ecosystems because when they die, after spawning in the
headwaters of watersheds, their decomposing bodies return precious nutrients to the environment.
Without salmon, fewer nutrients supplied to complex ecosystems such as the Snake River in
Washington means that the biodiversity of that region suffers.
Salmon are also important in the Pacific Northwest because commercial and recreational fishing has
provided jobs for thousands of people over hundreds of years. Further, salmon have served for centuries
as a proud symbol of heritage for tribal groups, and their decline has stressed these traditions and
economies.
The Threats to Salmon
Scientific studies have shown that multiple factors, known as the "4Hs " (Harvest, Hatchery,
Hydropower and Habitat), are causing the decline of salmon populations. Habitat degradation,
competition from hatchery fish, excessive harvests and hydropower dams that block fish migration
present devastating challenges to the survival of wild salmon.
Today, every single species of Snake River salmon is included on the federal endangered species list. In
the Pacific Northwest, coho is extinct, sockeye was listed as endangered in 1992, and the following were
listed as threatened in 1993: spring chinook, summer chinook, fall chinook and steelhead. Time is
running out for the Snake River salmon.
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/salmon/pacsalmon.html
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Pacific Salmon Decline -- Defenders of Wildlife
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Dams Create Problems for Snake River Salmon
Salmon are anadromous fish, which means they spawn in fresh water rivers and streams and spend the
majority of their adult lives in salt water oceans. Being anadromous, Snake River salmon encounter the
Lower Monumental, Ice Harbor, Lower Granite and Little Goose dams on the Lower Snake River twice
in their lives. As juveniles, salmon pass these dams during their downstream migration to the ocean in
three ways: through the turbines, over the top of the dam or through "juvenile bypass systems." Each of
these methods may result in descaling or other injuries, which will decrease their long-term chances for
survival.
As adults, salmon pass the dams swimming upstream to spawn. Adult fish returning from the ocean
must swim through slack-water reservoirs behind the dams, where water temperatures are often much
higher than the rest of the river. This can harm fish accustomed to colder water. With their system taxed,
the fish must then use the fish ladders to cross over the dams.
Scientific studies have shown that these four dams present the most serious obstacle to migrating Snake
River salmon. Removing the dams will offer an effective way to prevent further loss to the culture,
ecology and economy of the Pacific Northwest.
Defenders in Action
Defenders of Wildlife supports the immediate bypassing of the Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Ice
Harbor and Lower Granite dams on the Lower Snake River as a necessary first step in salmon recovery.
Defenders further advocates future scientific study on habitat, harvest and hatchery impacts on Snake
River salmon to save salmon from extinction. By working with tribal and citizen action groups,
conservation organizations and federal planners, Defenders of Wildlife hopes to help build a
management atmosphere that focuses on sound science and ecosystem management.
For more information, contact:
Suzanne Laverty
Pacific Northwest Regional Representative
Defenders of Wildlife
PMB 217, 3355 North Five Mile Road
Boise, ID, 83713-5903
(208) 672-1732
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/salmon/pacsalmon.html
Nina Fascione
Director of Carnivore Conservation
Defenders of Wildlife
1104 Fourteenth Street, NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC, 20005
(202) 682-9400 ext.105
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Pacific Salmon Decline -- Defenders of Wildlife
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/salmon/pacsalmon.html
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