Well I hate to inform anyone who doesn't like hatcheries, but when it comes to salmon “wild” or “hatchery” “clipped” or “unclipped” really should not be the question anymore, here in the Pacific Northwest! Just for simplicity sake, you might as well consider any salmon in the Columbia River Basin, Puget Sound, or even the Fraser a direct result of some type of a hatchery production!
It is currently believed (I do believe) that over 80% of the Chinook population in the Columbia is now a direct result of “hatchery” production. Even the so-called “wild” Chinook listed on ESA are currently enhanced by “hatcheries”! The Puget Sound Chinook were mismanaged and crossbred so much that IMHO there cannot be any “wild” Chinook left in Puget Sound; to include, those listed on ESA. Most of the Fraser populations have been enhanced and cross bredding with the remaining "wild" has been going on for years.
So, the real questions should be: 1) Do want salmon spawning in their natural habitat were they support other species of life that depend on them for existence? 2) Continue hatching them in cement ponds where they can’t support the other forms of life, that is except us humans? 3) Let them, and the rest of the other species that rely on them just die off and leave us eating “farmed Atlantic salmon”?
common urban legend. fire up google maps, look for Portland, OR. then trace the willamette river from its confluence to the head waters. what you will find is urban development, coupled with agriculture grass fields with their pesticide and fertilizer run off. the Portland harbor was a super fund site not that many years ago due to WWII ship building, mercury, lead and all sort of other nasty stuff. you will also note that the upper forks are all dammed 'flood control'.
stocking of springers was stopped decades ago, decades.....a totally impacted urban river with a self sustaining run of spring and fall chinook and a very healthy run of fall steelhead, all on their own, no hatcheries involved, on an eco system that has been blasted by mankind over the centuries.
urban legend says this can't be done. think again. mankind has zero clue regarding fish DNA and what they are genetically programmed to do. all WE have to do is get the hell out of the way and let them return on their own. hatcheries are what is keeping these runs from returning and the justification, as noted above, is not only urban legend but also a PR job supreme by the commercial fishing interests to keep your and my tax dollars involved with producing hatchery zombies for these folks to harvest. now do the ROI, <1% return rate is considered stellar for hatchery returns. so how much/pound are you willing to throw at hatcheries???? step right up 'cause the days of a free ride are rapidly diminishing as budgets are slashed down this way.
Concerning DNA… You just touch a salmon and that is subject to change its DNA. Think about loading those “wild” Snake River ESA Chinook on barges and transporting them – don’t think that changes their DNA? Everything changes and modifies a salmons DNA it is how they have evolved over that
50 million years of their existence.
IF… we humans were to get out of their way giving salmon a chance, meaning we do not continue to poison, block and/or destroy their spawning grounds – they WILL adopt and survive! Until then, if we were to “just get out of their way” without those hatcheries there simply would be NO salmon, including on the Willamette River.
I am also for protecting and restoring salmon habitat and doing just that; however, those hatcheries are going to be around for a LONG time! What we humans are doing has nothing to do with “nature.” Unfortunately, one needs to remember salmon need access to spawning grounds to survive! Once we humans destroy their environment and habitat in an area there really is only a few choices left. 1) Restore their habitat 2) Build a hatchery 3) Let that particular salmon race go extinct. Make your choice, as the choice really is yours. It has nothing to do with what “nature” can or can’t do!
Not so sure I would have used the Willamette River as an example of “totally impacted urban river with a self sustaining run of spring and fall chinook and a very healthy run of fall steelhead”? Don’t know about the “common urban legend” comment either, but if you do “fire up” Google, point it in this direction:
http://www.cbr.washington.edu/dart/hatch.html
Total Released in 2011 was 1,660,426 “Spring” Chinook yearlings and breaks down as follows:
Willamette Hatchery, Dexter Pond, Released 539,469 on 01/28/2011 by ODFW
Willamette Hatchery, Dexter Pond, Released 654,437 on 02/11/2011 by ODFW
Willamette Hatchery, South Fork Santiam River, Released 126,169 on 02/23/2011 by ODFW
Willamette Hatchery, Mollala River, Released 103,809 on 03/01/2011 by ODFW
Willamette Hatchery, Dexter Pond, Released 236,542 on 04/13/2011 byODFW
Total Released in 2011 was 157,401 Steelhead:
Willamette Hatchery, Santiam River & N Fk released 65,516 on 03/08/2011 by ODFW
Willamette Hatchery, Willamette River released 30,870 on 04/11/2011 by ODFW
Willamette Hatchery, Dexter Pond released 61,015 on 04/13/2011 by ODFW
The Willamette River Chinook and Steelhead is currently and has been enhanced, since 1925. That is currently to the tune of over 1.5 million Chinook yearlings annually. The reason is simple, salmon need spawning grounds to survive. Build a dam that obstructs their return and/or destroy the spawning grounds, they simply cannot exist in that area:
“This facility was built and annually funded in part by the US Army Corps of Engineers to compensate for the loss of spawning and rearing areas above the dams on the South Santiam River.
Hatchery is located downriver at north end of Foster Dam.”
http://www.santiamriver.com/
Want to take a look at their visitors center?
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/visitors/dexter_pond.asp
Decades and self-sustaining?
FYI… Salmon have been around much longer than most think and will probably outlast us? Atlantic and Pacific both originated from one species. Here is part of an article I put together a few years ago:
There are five species of Pacific salmon (Onchorhynchus spp.) of what we refer to as Pacific Northwest Salmon they are: Chinook, Coho, Sockeye, Chum, and Pink. However, in the Oncorhynchus family you will also find Steelhead and Sea-run Cutthroat trout. So, if someone happens to say seven different species, they would be correct in that statement!
Salmonidae have been around for Eon(aeon), in comparison our primate ancestors showed about 4 million years ago - The oldest salmon fossil is Eosalmo, (which actually lived in fresh water) and lived about
50 million years ago. Think about that, salmon have lived on this Earth over twelve times longer than “humans”! Ten to fifteen million years ago salmon grew to ten feet and actually had fangs, some weighing in over 500 pounds. Now that is a “salmon”!
The salmon’s ancestral species Oncorhynchus is believed to have evolved during the Meiocene Epoch.
No links for that, as I wrote it based on some research a few years back; however, if interested information can be found by “firing up Google” and looking under and for the names: ‘Smilodonichthys rastrosus’, ‘Sabretooth’, ‘Eoslmo’ all followed with salmon.