Why have plans to fix our salmon failed? We chase promises then refuse to adapt. Positives can be written on a stamp.
The Endangered Species Act blocks fish from living, choosing one species over the other. Wild fish can’t compete when harvested and haven’t. The future of salmon this way is a ghost chase. Columbia River fixes cost $20 billion; before dams are removed, let’s fix this insanity.
We discard real fixes. Wild salmon have impurities. Salmon genetics are impossible to control in natural settings. Being picky will later fail to crossbred fish. Stocking rivers for spawning purposes sustains when nature supports only worthy fish. Our management kills them.
Salmon won’t live using the Endangered Species Act, and hatchery reform policies to stop the blending of fish in truth don’t do that at all. Allowing fewest (wild salmon) selectively to spawn starves abundance and our future. Our wild salmon are taken beyond our borders and sold back to us. Prevention of life plus harvest has paralyzed all rivers, dammed or not. Our insanity means the lack of spawning abundance is here to stay.
Our senseless and unreached goals leave salmon to R.I.P. It’s an endless merry-go-round ride and illusion, costing time, salmon and money.
