Tippets: Snake River Hatchery, Canadian Mining Boom, Rethinking Salmon Conservation

November 22, 2017 By: Erin Block

  • An Idaho hatchery intended to help salmon populations might instead be pushing them closer to the brink. While a recent report from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game blames water chemistry, “Idaho Rivers United, an environmental group, blasted the report as more reasons for removing four dams on the lower Snake River that impede salmon.” Via AP News.
  • British Columbia and Alaska are home to storied and productive salmon waters. They are also home to rich mineral deposits.  And “while the fly fishing industry has been focusing on that one large proposed mine in Bristol Bay,” writes Garth Lenz, “there has been a mining boom in British Columbia that threatens our shared salmon rivers.”
  • In this recent article in The Idaho Statesman, Rocky Barker examines the question of whether the conservation work being done for salmon is doing more harm than good. “What if the billions of human-raised fish rob food from native fish competing in the limited waters of damaged ecosystems? What if by focusing on creating more fish for people to catch and eat, we’ve simply pushed the weakened salmon closer to extinction?”