The Bush Administration's announcement of a major new initiative to reform salmon and steelhead hatchery and harvest practices in the Columbia Basin elicited both support and concerns.

Republican U.S. Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho says the White House's top environmental adviser Jim Connaughton "called for a comprehensive and collaborative approach to salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest.

"While I may not agree completely with (Council of Environmental Quality) Chairman Connaughton's statement, we must stop ignoring what is going on. It's about time that someone speaks out about the reality of the situation in the Northwest in regards to salmon recovery.There has been no clear direction in the past, and CEQ is taking the first step to provide a meaningful direction."

Craig said, "We don't raise bald eagles only to use their feathers for our clothes, so why do we spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to recover the salmon species, and then allow a majority of them to be killed through harvesting? The people who pay for these absurd practices are the Northwest ratepayers. Snake River fall chinook are the most impacted ESA listed species in the Columbia River system. These fish drive BPA's fish and wildlife program. Approximately 40 percent to 60 percent of this species is harvested."

Of all the Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act, Snake River fall chinook take the biggest hit in harvest.

The incidental harvest rates on these fish are high because they are caught simultaneously with other West Coast chinook stocks and with relatively healthy stocks of upriver fall chinook from the Columbia River.

According to NOAA Fisheries, about 25 percent of the harvest mortality for Snake River fall chinook is the result of Canadian fisheries. The remainder of harvest mortality is spread among fisheries in Alaska, the U.S. West Coast, and tribal and non-tribal in-river catches.

Craig said he would like to help "the management agencies -- the appropriate managers of the river system -- to succeed in their efforts to manage the river, in partnership with local, state, and tribal governments.

"Why not trust the experts who have the scientific knowledge to make those decisions and help empower the region to work together instead of giving up and having the court systems make management decisions? How are we to succeed in the future if we keep allowing others to make our decisions for us?"

The Idaho senator said he will "work with other members of Congress to finally face these challenges and to help provide direction and be more accountable to the public and to recovery of the species. If we are serious about recovery, we need to start acting serious and not avoid the tough questions.

"I would like to challenge my colleagues to come together in a bipartisan way to help the region get back on track," Craig said.

Idaho's other senator, Republican Mike Crapo, said Connaughton's speech presented "ideas that are intriguing, and yet raise some items of concern. We all agree that wild anadromous fish recovery needs to be properly balanced among all the H's -- habitat, hydropower, hatchery, and harvest.

"However, there are many uncoordinated activities, understandably so, occurring in the region at this time -- lawsuits, appeals, remands, other harvest reviews, habitat programs, and many hydropower activities. And many of these activities are managed by state or tribal governments. The matter of how we coordinate these ongoing efforts region-wide is a threshold decision that must be made before we move forward. It would be useful to recognize the recently-completed Nez Perce Agreement as a model of difficult negotiation and collaboration that resulted in a durable agreement."

Additionally, Crapo said, "hatcheries provide for our salmon and steelhead sport fishery so we must be mindful of the impact that changing hatchery practices and policies might have. Not only is hook and line fishing an iconic regional activity, but it is also the basis of a great many local economies in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Certainly many existing hatchery practices must be reviewed, but we cannot forget the thousands of anglers that work very hard for anadromous fish recovery. I am pleased to support the Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery initiatives, and believe these techniques to hold great potential.

"It is my hope that Chairman Connaughton's remarks stimulate a solution-oriented regional effort to develop a recovery plan to restores our wild anadromous fish to sustainable, harvestable numbers; while preserving reliable and affordable electricity, a interested parties in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest , in this critically-important effort."

U.S. Rep Doc Hastings, R-Wa, representing the Tri-Cities area, said Connaughton's announcement "will be embraced by those who are more concerned with achieving salmon recovery than perpetuating salmon conflict. I welcome this common sense focus on comprehensive salmon recovery that includes long overdue scrutiny of harvest and hatchery policies. 

"The current hydro and habitat only approach shortchanges honest recovery efforts and places the entire burden of saving salmon solely on the backs of farmers and ratepayers," Hasting said.

Fishing interests, while not opposing a review, suggested that further fishery reductions will provide marginal benefits because only a small percentage of wild fish are now being harvested.

Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations, said, "Blaming the fishermen for salmon declines is an old diversionary tactic.

"The truth is that fishermen have been far more the victim of salmon declines than its cause," Grader said. "Blaming the victim is just an effort to divert attention from the real causes of these declines -- dewatered rivers filled with salmon-killing dams.  Salmon fishermen have never had any control over the real drivers of salmon extinction.  What little we have had control over (harvests) has been as selective as possible on hatchery fish, with extraordinary efforts made to avoid listed fish as required by law."

He said all sport, commercial and tribal harvests in the Columbia and on Columbia-origin stocks elsewhere amounts to between 5 and 7 percent impacts, while the eight mainstem hydropower dams in the Columbia have comparable cumulative impacts of as much as 80 percent.

Charles Hudson, spokesman for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, which represents four lower Columbia tribes with treaty-reserved fishing rights, said the his organization was "pleased that Mr. Connaughton spoke to the sanctity of treaty fishing rights, as we would expect him to.

"This administration is well aware of the tribes' strong interest in the harvest/production linkage as well as our commitment to comprehensive and long-term restoration. We are concerned, however, that harvest is being singled out for particular scrutiny when it has been the most aggressively and conservatively managed 'H' for several decades.

"It's true tribal harvest has made great sacrifices to aid in the conservation effort but we're not interested in being put forth as a poster child. This adminstration shouldn't look to run citizens of the Northwest off the rivers anymore than they would run them off Mt. Rainier or out of the Pike Place market. It won't go over well in the Northwest. There is simply too much work to be done with river management and habitat."

Hudson said the tribes have "spent considerable time discussing hatchery reform with the Bush Administration and the lingering constraints of the previous administration. It's time to get that house in order. Mr. Connaughton is familiar with tribal hatcheries and that the tribes have the know-how and the show-how to make supplementation programs a key component of the restoration package."

Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, said of the new harvest and hatchery initiative, "if I had the confidence that science would not be gagged, I would be comfortable with it."

She said her organization welcomes the statements about mass marking and selective fishing, because "it works for us."

But she noted that harvest and hatcheries have been operating within the constraints of incidental take permits without violations, "while the hydro system has never met those standards."

Reacting at the Salmon 2100 conference, Mike Carrier, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's natural resources policy advisor, said that new decisions about harvest and hatcheries "must be truly collaborative and respect states' and tribes' rights."

He said the region "already has some good collaborative processes that can address these issues."

Northwest RiverPartners, a nonprofit, non-partisan coalition of farmers, businesses, utilities and river users, applauded the Administrations' announcement.

"Clearly, efforts to protect and recover Northwest salmon and other fish species require a comprehensive approach that includes a more serious look at harvest levels and hatcheries if the region is to succeed", said Terry Flores, director of Northwest RiverPartners. 

"The hydrosystem alone can only do so much." Flores said, "Salmon restoration efforts must rely on sound science and recognize there are many other factors besides dams -- including ocean conditions, hatchery policies and harvest -- that affect salmon throughout their lifecycle."

Jean Ryckman, chair of Northwest RiverPartners said "We are pleased to see the administration putting more of a spotlight on these issues. Representatives Walden, Baird and Dicks showed great bi-partisan leadership in putting harvest on the table for regional discussion, and the administration's announcement today will help further salmon recovery efforts."