Save Wild Salmon, Nature and Our Future

When was the last time you thought about salmon? Sure, it's a common food, but this one fish is a key link in the chain between environment, recreation, jobs and the economy. In the Pacific Northwest salmon fishing brings tens of millions of dollars into the regional economy each year, representing thousands of jobs.

WATCH VIDEO: Philippe Cousteau on Overfishing in our Oceans

But salmon runs are in decline, and that hurts the economy and the environment. In fact, this decline is severely affecting the local environment; including another endangered species -- Puget Sound Southern Resident orca whales. Scientists say that these fish are the largest single change to the whale's food supplies and are directly linked to their decline in recent decades. Endangered salmon runs mean that everything that these fish are linked to or have an impact on, from other species to our own economy, is threatened as well. Still think of salmon as just a dinner dish?

In a recent L.A. Times Opinion piece, scientist and author Carl Safina outlined the importance of salmon to the environment and to human beings in general. Safina, the author of Songs for the Blue Ocean and Eye of the Albatross, as well as a well-respected scientist, conservationist and the president of the Blue Ocean Institute, holds that the Obama administration isn't doing enough to protect these fish, saying that the administration "should embrace salmon abundance as the beating heart of the Pacific Northwest -- the flow of energy that connects and sustains people, fishing towns, bears, wolves, orcas, forests and the rivers and seas we all love and use."

Safina joins a growing group of conservationists, economists, scientists, fisherman and recreationists from around the country that are pushing for a scientifically sound and legal plan on the mighty Columbia-Snake rivers that supports lower Snake River dam removal; the best option for optimal salmon survival according to these groups. Hopes for a science-backed plan were high when President Obama came into office, but quickly fell by the wayside. In September 2009, the Obama administration, led by Secretary Locke, decided to adopt the 2008 NOAA Fisheries Columbia Basin Salmon Plan originally crafted by the Bush administration -- a plan deemed illegal by federal courts twice.

The current plan includes for additional actions to be studied if listed species continue to experience severe decline. But these species are already endangered, and their extinction would certainly lead to the extinction of other species, like orcas.

So what's the solution? It comes back to providing free flowing rivers for these fish, so they can successfully reach the ocean and return to their spawning grounds. As Safina points out, that requires dam removal. "A wiser strategy would focus on restoring salmon's workhorse role for people and ecosystems. In the Columbia Basin, it would include removing four federal dams on the Snake River, which would open 3,000 miles of healthy streams above the present dams for three salmon species and double the spawning habitat for a fourth." Dam removal is contentious, but when it comes to these fish, and our jobs, economy and livelihood, it's essential.

Dam removal is a polemic issue because many would argue that it raises the question of carbon costs, since hydropower is a source of renewable energy. "We have in this region an enormous amount of new wind coming up," said Sara Patton, Executive Director of the NW Energy Coalition. In fact the Northwest is so rich in energy production that Patton points out that there are even some that say we have "too much power." "This is a great opportunity to use this 'too much power.'"

The chance to take advantage of wind power isn't the only human benefit of protecting salmon. Free flowing rivers would also mean many more recreation opportunities. Removing the four lower Snake River dams would restore more than 60 rapids and over 30,000 acres of wildlife habitat and riverside public access. Recovery of steelhead and salmon runs would provide more opportunity for sport fisherman, bringing in money to both Washington and Idaho tourism economies.

Others argue that court ordered spill and flows, which have had a high level of success this year, could be an excellent alternative to dam removal. But the Obama administration's plan rolls back all extra spill that has helped salmon populations in recent years. "Since Judge Redden ordered spill flows, we've seen the best in-river juvenile steelhead survival. And now we're seeing the best adult returns too. What this year's strong returns are telling us should be brutally obvious: when rivers run just a bit more like rivers, rather than a series of warm, slack-water reservoirs, salmon and steelhead are resilient enough to rebound in force," said renowned Northwest steelhead guide Jeff Hickman. "But spill is just band-aid. If we have any hope to recover healthy populations of wild salmon and steelhead, we have to remove the four lower Snake River dams." Otherwise we might be looking at the extinction of more than just one species, and that would affect our environment and our livelihoods on a very large scale.

All right, so salmon is clearly more than a delicious dinner, but what can you do to help the endangered species? Here are some simple ways to take action, both small and large.

1. Take Action! Plenty of groups out there are working to save wild salmon. Start out with Save Our Wild Salmon it's a national coalition of conservation organizations, commercial and sportsfishing associations, businesses, river groups, and taxpayer advocates all working to restore self-sustaining, abundant, and harvestable populations of wild salmon and steelhead to rivers, streams and oceans of the Pacific Salmon states.

2. Become energy efficient. Saving salmon can be as simple as switching to energy efficient light bulbs; the less energy we use the less need we have for hydroelectric power.

3. Choose wild. Saving salmon can be approached from a simple economic model of supply and demand: if demand goes up, supply will follow. Just make sure you're choosing wild salmon and not farmed.

4. Sign the Un-Locke the Science petition to tell senators that you support a science-backed salmon recovery plan.

5. Get out and play! Dam removal means river restoration. Removing the four lower Snake River dams would mean a restored 140 miles of free-flowing river with parklands, bird and wildlife habitat and public recreation on 30,000 acres of riverside land. The more you play in this river area the more you show your support for restoring it.