[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 52 (Thursday, April 15, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BILLIONS OF DOLLARS SPENT ON SALMON RESTORATION IN COLUMBIA RIVER BY 
                FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WITH MINIMAL RESULTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. Metcalf) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. METCALF. Mr. Speaker, our Pacific Northwest salmon populations 
have been in decline for decades. Recently, nine new populations were 
listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. 
The Federal Government and the States are poised to provide substantial 
sums of money for habitat rehabilitation and restoration efforts but, 
beyond that, the Federal Government must be a helpful advisor only with 
the decisions made thoughtfully and judiciously at the State and local 
level. We must not allow, nor can we afford, another debacle such as 
occurred on the Columbia River in recent years.
  Billions of dollars have been spent on salmon restoration in the 
Columbia River by the Federal Government over the last 20 years, with 
minimal results; largely because it has ignored available salmon 
technology.
  Now that so many salmon populations have been listed under ESA, my 
concern is that the Federal agencies will try to exert control over 
more and more aspects of salmon recovery. Bureaucracies centered in 
Washington, D.C., however well intentioned, are incapable of solving 
the salmon problems of the Pacific Northwest. We all pay the price for 
the mistakes made by the Federal Government.
  The most prized salmon specious are the king, coho and sockeye 
salmon. We have correctly focused our attention on them. However, it is 
more complicated than that. I believe we must look at the restoration 
of all five species, including chum and pink salmon. Historically, vast 
runs of chum and pink salmon fertilized the rivers with large numbers 
of decaying bodies of the adults after spawning.

                              {time}  1715

  Thus the newly-hatched chum and pink fry had an adequate food supply 
as they migrated downstream, and then the young king and coho fed on 
the myriads of young pinks and chums. The degradation and blocking of 
spawning habitat has been a major problem, so habitat restoration and 
removal of blockage which obstructs returning spawners must be high 
priorities for salmon restoration.
  Again, my fear is that habitat restoration may be the singular 
objective of those making the endangered or threatened listening, which 
could weaken our rehabilitation effort, and thus subject our area to 
excessive Federal regulations and restrictions.
  Habitat restoration and protection are critical elements, but the 
well-developed salmon technology presents us a wide range of additional 
options, such as:
  No. 1, the use of culvert upgrading, reconfiguration and maintenance;
  No. 2, predation control, very important;
  No. 3, careful regulation of all commercial salmon fishing in 
saltwater, and extremely careful supervision of any commercial fishing 
in spawning rivers;
  No. 4, spawning channels and over-wintering sloughs, to give maximum 
protection to the presently returning wild salmon.
  We must keep our eyes on the objective and support those programs 
that will truly enhance our weakened salmon runs. We have neither time 
nor money for overzealous political correctness nor the control games 
that Federal agencies might seek to impose.
  We must maximize the survival of offspring of the returning fish each 
year. As well as natural spawn, we must supply fertilized eggs to 
hatcheries for the following enhancement purposes: Remote egg boxes, 
net-pen rearing of fish to their optimal size, and small stream 
rehabilitation by planting fed fry into every small and medium stream 
and tributary that could provide a route to saltwater for outbound 
juveniles. In the old days, the small streams produced millions and 
millions of fish.
  We should encourage Washington State in its programs that are already 
tracking towards these goals. Several tribes are on the cutting edge of 
salmon rehabilitation, and tend to have land and water areas available 
for their use. In addition, they have a cultural and historic head 
start moving in this critical direction.
  Bringing the salmon back will not be an easy task, but it is an 
achievable goal. We need to make sure that our salmon dollars are 
delivered into the right hands, and that they are spent appropriately.

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