How Dams Affect Salmon Migration
The 1,000 plus species of Salmon and Steelhead that live off the western coast of the United States and breed in the rivers and tributaries of California, Washington, and Oregon have greatly fallen in population. 106 species have become extinct and 314 more are at risk of extinction in the Columbia River Basin, the focus of this report. The causes of this are dams on the rivers stopping salmon from breeding and smolt from returning to the ocean, and commercial fishing boats depleting mature populations and blocking river mouths. The solution to commercial fishing problems is obvious, though not likely to happen,as the government won't go farther than lightly regulating commercial ...
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and what can be done with dammed river to allow natural breeding?
"Salmon Migration: Decisions, Decisions" no author Environmental News Thursday,
"Columbia River Salmon Protection OK'd" no author Environmental News Tuesday, June 30, 1999
"Dam Busting Not Always the Best Decision" no author Thursday, December 31, 1998
"Columbia River Dams and the Decline of Northwest Salmon" A project developed by April Brenden, Laura Fetherston, Jonette Ford, and Shannon Nichols (Group 30), Biology 130 students at University of Oregon.
Since early times, the rivers of the Pacific Northwest have been filled with salmon. In 1894 Richard Rathbun of the Smithsonian Institute traveled west and commented that the quantities of salmon which frequented these waters was beyond calculations, and seemed so great as to challenge human ingenuity to affect it in any way. This is far from being true now. If a person traveled to the Pacific Northwest in 1995 they would find rivers with large dams and ...
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for guiding downstream migrants into unsafe bypasses, using, for example, noises, oxygen bubbles, lights, louvers, and screens. The costs of the installation and their indifferent success has discouraged the notion that high or large dams can be reconciled with salmon production.
The Colombia River system is stitched with hydroelectric dams that produce the countries cheapest power, 40 percent cheaper than the national average. This cheap electricity is why most people are overlooking the salmon runs that are rapidly decreasing. Long-term preservation goals can be overridden by a short-term drive for profit and jobs. Local politicians are always trying to get congress to give them money ...
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How Dams Affect Salmon Migration. (2007, August 19). Retrieved April 19, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/How-Dams-Affect-Salmon-Migration/69813
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"How Dams Affect Salmon Migration." Essayworld.com. August 19, 2007. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/How-Dams-Affect-Salmon-Migration/69813.
"How Dams Affect Salmon Migration." Essayworld.com. August 19, 2007. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/How-Dams-Affect-Salmon-Migration/69813.
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