Bill Forhan, publisher
Declining salmon runs, just like global warming/climate change is just another misunderstood problem that could be solved without removing any dams or spending small fortunes employing lawyers and environmentalists that do not understand the problem.
Even if the dams are removed salmon runs will continue to decline. Why? Because the biggest problem comes from overfishing off the coasts of North America and British Columbia.
Native Americans unfortunately are part of the problem here. Before you start calling me a racist we need to examine current fishing practices. Runs were plentiful before modern fishing techniques, that is, fishing trawlers were employed by commercial fishermen many of which are Native American.
Go salmon fishing off the coast today and you are liable to get run over by trawlers sweeping nearly everything in their path into their holds.
You want to test the theory? Put a fishing ban off the coast for five years. Pay the fishermen, including the Native Americans, to park their boats. We have paid farmers not to grow wheat and other crops why not pay fishermen not to fish.
British Columbia tried a partial ban in the early 90’s and quickly saw a huge surge in salmon runs.
I appreciate the Native American culture that wants to protect the salmon, but if we don’t get a better handle on over fishing salmon will become extinct and the dams will have to be rebuilt in order to recreate clean energy, reduce flooding and provide a way for farmers to get their grain to market.
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