18 Spring-Run Chinook @ Lower Granite Dam - 10-Yr Average = 18,000

[hatrack]

BOISE, Idaho - Fishery managers in the Northwest predicted that 88,000 spring chinook would swim upstream past Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River this year, but fewer than 20 percent of that number have done so late in the season. The spawning run "is very late, and we really don't have a good explanation why," said Cindy LeFleur, a policy coordinator for the Columbia River Compact with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. "It could be less than we predicted."

As of Friday, only about 15,500 spring chinook had gone past the dam. The 10-year average is about 112,000 past the dam for this time of year.

A new prediction on this year's run will be made Monday when managers meet to look at fish counts. Managers say they need to see the peak of the run going past the dam before they can make a good prediction about its size.

EDIT

By Friday, only 18 spring chinook had gone past Lower Granite Dam — the uppermost of the eight dams between the Pacific Ocean and Idaho by way of the Columbia and Snake rivers. The 10-year average for this time of year is about 18,000 fish.

EDIT

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2627&ncid=2627&e=15&u=/ap/20060505/ap_on_sc/spring_chinook_1

[mike_c]

1. dammit we've known for YEARS that salmon are in decline...

...and most self respecting fisheries biologists can identify the root causes well enough. The next five years will be critical for wild salmon runs. Absolutely critical. Losing the wild pacific salmon runs is like losing the passenger pidgeon-- except this time we can see it coming and it's a train wreck we could stop. This is the tragedy of the commons in action.

[dcfirefighter]

3. Point of order, it's not a tragedy of the commons

because the salmon fisheries aren't held in common: they're only used (and only directly benefit) those with the licenses to fish them.

They earn money by selling more fish. They sell fish by catching more fish. They have an incentive to lobby for higher harvest allowances.

Other people get to earn money, or earn more money, by driving, using fossil energy, or other activities that have a high external cost (on the fisheries, in this case) and a high internal benefit.

The salmon might be in better shape if the fisheries were truly held in common, if only by the people of WA/ID.

[orwell]

2. Nothing to see here...

...good citizen. Just move on. The adults are in charge.

There's nothing fishy at all...