In this editorial by the Sacramento Bee, the apparent discounting that farm raised animals—including hatchery raised fish—can sustain a species for the future is discounting something that has been well established in the history of husbandry, and is a technology that should always be encouraged rather than discouraged.
We posted on the hatchery system previously.
And while the restoration of creeks to restore once prolific salmon runs sounds good—it does—the problem of carcasses rotting on the banks may dissuade some who live along those same banks from enticing too many spawning salmon to their neighborhood creek.
An excerpt from the editorial.
“The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a wake-up call on the dangers facing the Central Valley's salmon and, ultimately, the water system they depend on. It should be mulled and acted upon.
“The wake-up call came in the form of a "biological opinion" that the fisheries service filed earlier this month. Prompted by a federal court ruling on a lawsuit by environmentalists and fishermen, it found that the ways the state and federal water projects operate threaten the survival of endangered chinook salmon and steelhead, and it required that they change their policies.
“The changes the agency envisions include finding ways to get the fish around the dams and other barriers that currently stop them as they migrate upstream to spawn. With immense structures like Shasta Dam spanning the Sacramento River, and Folsom Dam the American, this will not be a simple task. It will require the construction of fish ladders, or elevators, or perhaps truck-and-haul operations. Experts aren't sure if any are feasible. The estimated price tag starts at $1 billion.
“The price of not acting, however, will likely be steeper.
“To begin with, the winter- and spring-run chinook salmon of the Sacramento River and the steelhead of the American are almost certainly doomed if their journeys to spawning habitat continue to be blocked.
“That probably won't take salmon off diners' plates, although there are persistent questions about the taste, healthfulness and environmental impact of what's produced on fish farms.”
