Northwest Reel Life July 2024 Volume 3 Issue 9 - Flipbook - Page 15
as a highly profitable
market opportunity. Taking
advantage of the great
numbers of salmon in the
Columbia, early commercial
fishing companies
constructed fish wheels—a
large ferris wheel like trap
that scooped considerable
amounts of salmon out
of the water. It’s said that
some of these fish wheels
were known to harvest up
to 70,000 salmon per day.
DAMS
Then came the dams. A
number of dams were
erected throughout the
northwest for the purpose
of hydroelectricity, a
zero-emissions source of
power. All these dams,
in some form, inhibited
salmon and other fish from
reaching miles of prime
spawning habitat while
also disturbing their natural
habitats in several ways.
On the Columbia—the
Grand Coulee and the
Chief Joseph Dam, on the
Snake River—the Lower
Granite, Little Goose,
Lower Monumental, and
Ice Harbor Dam. These
dams are likely the most
contentious, but other
smaller dams up the Snake
River have effectively
eliminated salmon returns
at the furthermost portions
of the Columbia River basin,
specifically, northeastern
Nevada. Historically, salmon
would make a 900-mile
journey from the Pacific
Ocean, up the Columbia
River, up the Snake River
through eastern
Washington and Idaho,
then finally arriving at
their spawning grounds in
the Owyhee River, where
Shoshone-Paiute tribes
would spear a portion of
these fish for sustenance.
DEFORESTATION
Whether it be for
commercial timber
harvesting or development,
deforestation has created a
multitude of problems for
salmon habitat. When land
is cleared around streams,
the natural ecosystems
become compromised, and
the various organisms that
salmon feed on diminish or
disappear. Aside from the
loss of food resources, the
natural shade produced
by the canvas of the trees
diminishes or disappears as
well. Without shade from
trees, streams are subjected
to an increased amount of
sunlight, thus increasing
the temperature of the
water. Salmon are incredibly
sensitive when it comes
to water temperature,
and drastic increases or
decreases in temperature
affect metabolic rate,
cause salmon to seek out
colder water upstream,
and increase vulnerability
to predation. In a nutshell,
altered ecosystems
due to altered habitats
complicate the survival and
reproduction processes of
salmon.
DEVELOPMENT &
POLLUTION
Water pollutants are
believed to have a
detrimental effect on
salmon health, size,
mortality, and reproductive
success. Though the effects
of pollution and salmon
survival can be hard to
quantify, it is well-accepted
amongst scientists that
pollutants from a variety of