HOW WOULD COLUMBIA RIVER SALMON AND STEELHEAD
ABUNDANCE BE IMPACTED IF BASIN-WIDE HATCHERY
RELEASES AND ALL HARVEST WERE TERMINATED?
Excerpts from an article by Brad Halverson
Dr. Robert Lackey, OSU Department of Fisheries,
Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences professor
Posed this question to an ad hoc group of 58
National and international fisheries scientists.
THE QUESTION POSED TO THIS GROUP OF PROFESSIONALS:
After 20-30 years of zero hatchery releases and zero
Targeted fishing, what would be the overall run size in
the Columbia Basin compared to current average runs?
Dr. Lackey’s key findings were:
83% of the respondents predicated current wild
Plush hatchery abundance would decline in the
Absence of hatchery stocking and harvest.