A better approach

One fall evening my father and I were preparing our boat for an evening of fishing just downstream from McNairy Dam on the Columbia River. While still docked, we watched as a 20-foot open and overloaded fiberglass boat came into the boat ramp. One man brought a truck down and they unloaded well over 1,000 pounds of salmon and steelhead. No one was there to record their catch. That one day of gill-netting brought in more fish than my father and I would remove from that river system in our lifetimes.

This occurred over 20 years ago and since then the number of gill nets in the Columbia and Snake Rivers have increased. They now stretch from the lower Columbia to the mouth of the Clearwater. This has gone on as the fish runs have dropped. Some argue that the dams are responsible for the loss of fish while others claim ocean conditions have changed. Both may play a role. But what we have witnessed over the years causes us to believe that the rivers have been heavily over fished. Several species of fish along the Atlantic coast were endangered due to over fishing. The fishery was shut down and has since recovered.

We recommend that prior to removing dams on the Snake River stop the removal of salmon and steelhead from the Columbia River system. Set a goal of 20 years for recovery. By then we may see a number of changes in the way we power our vehicles to the worsening conditions in our oceans. One would make the dams more valuable while the other might make dam removal a moot point.

Carl Larson

Spokane