Dams Not the Problem for Columbia River Salmon?

Researchers say that a new study of juvenile salmon survival suggests that dams may not be the primary culprit in the decline of some major west coast salmon populations. While the study reaches no firm conclusions, it does raise doubts about the role of improved modern dams in salmon declines. And it may make scientists take a closer look at habitat destruction in the tributaries and overproduction in hatcheries as other, more significant problems. “Chinook smolts didn’t survive any better in the free-flowing Fraser system than a comparison hatchery group did on its journey through the dams in the Columbia system, of which the Snake River is a major tributary, the researchers found.” Susan Milius in Science News.