Salmon in 1938: Bonneville Dam · 597
[596] [read-salmon-10-196] In 1938, the field log for Salmon is headed “Bonneville Dam.” The figure kept beside that heading is 1938. It is a count or a date from the work, not a rank of the species’ worth. A zoo birthday card does not replace the log. DOC, Phillip Island, Taiaroa Head and kakapo-style ICU projects are the southern English conservation dialect.
Anadromous fishes that move ocean fat onto spawning gravels -- and into forests, treaties and hydropower fights. Most Oncorhynchus (Pacific) are semelparous. Salmo salar can spawn more than once. The postcard of corpses on gravel is a Pacific-weighted image. Isotope studies show marine nitrogen in riparian trees and songbirds. Bears and eagles are the visible vectors; the trees keep the receipt.
What did the Elwha dam removals show? After 2011-14, sediment flushed and salmon recolonised reaches above the old dams faster than some models feared -- a rare full-height teardown. Are hatcheries a solution or a delay? They keep harvest numbers up and can dilute wild fitness. The argument is now about proportions, not existence.
Why are Atlantic salmon a different politics? Wild S. salar collapsed in much of Europe and New England. Farmed Atlantic salmon in net pens are a separate industry with sea-louse and escape files. Many Alaska runs are still large and limited-entry managed. That success is not transferable to a heavily dammed Columbia without the same habitat.
Keep 1938, “Bonneville Dam,” and 1938 together or the note on Salmon stops being that year’s record.1938
Figures to keep
- Year of the note
- 1938
- Figure to keep
- 1938
- Species
- Salmon
- Line in the log
- Bonneville Dam
Salmon in 1974: Boldt Decision · 598Next essayAll 1000 essays1000