Upstream

Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest

Preface

 The Committee on Protection and Management of Pacific Northwest Anadromous Salmon was formed in 1992 under the auspices of the National Research Council's Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (BEST). The committee was formally charged as follows:

The committee will review information concerning the seven species of the genus Oncorhynchus in the Pacific Northwest. The review will focus on the population status, habitat, and environmental requirements of the stocks. It will include analysis of information about their genetics, history, management, and production by hatcheries, as well as federal, state, tribal, and other management regimes. The committee will evaluate options for improving the prospects for long-term sustainability of the stocks, and will consider economic and social implications of such changes. The committee will undertake the following general tasks:

 Assess the state of the stocks. This assessment will include a consideration of the nature of local adaptations of stocks to environmental conditions. More specific questions will probably include the degree to which the adaptations are due to phenotypic plasticity versus genetic differences, the nature and appropriate definition of a stock, the value of a diversity of stocks for preserving evolutionary potential, and which stocks are in danger of extinction or of becoming irretrievably mixed with other stocks.

 Analyze the causes of decline. This analysis will consider all stages ofthe life history of the seven species: spawning and nursery habitat, downstream migration, life at sea, and the return upriver to spawn.

  Analyze options for intervention (management). Again, this will involve all stages of the life history. It will include a consideration of previous activities, such as the Pacific Northwest Power Planning Council's program in adaptive management; federal, state, and local regulations and enhancements; and other activities. The analysis will include some consideration of socioeconomic costs and benefits.

 Composition of this "salmon" committee was especially broad; it had to be to encompass the geographic, scientific, and human breadth of the issues in the continuing interactions in the Pacific Northwest between salmon and humans. Members included experts with general and specific knowledge of genetics, fish ecology, stream ecology, fish biology, inland waters and ocean science, anthropology, social science, political science, international fisheries and transboundary issues, habitat and habitat rehabilitation, hydrology, hatcheries, dams, fishery management, and fishery science. The committee's biographies are in Appendix A. I especially appreciated the degree to which the committee was able to frame and synthesize the many facets of the "salmon problem." I continue to be amazed by the high quality of the National Research Council staff; on behalf of the committee I especially thank David Policansky, Tania Williams, and Adriénne Davis.

 The committee met seven times from December 1992 to June 1994; two meetings were held in Portland, Oregon, and two in Seattle, Washington, to allow persons from the Pacific Northwest with information relevant to the issues easy access to the committee. In addition, a writing subgroup met and individual committee members met in pairs and trios on specific issues. The dates and meeting locations are in Appendix B.

 The committee thanks the many persons who provided information and points of view to us in open sessions and public hearings. These people further broadened the scope of the committee, and the specific information we received greatly helped develop our own perspectives on the issues. These individuals and organizations are identified in Appendix C. Also, I thank Courtland L. Smith for his many contributions during the period he served on the committee, both to the process of the committee and the text of our report.

 The "salmon problem" in the Pacific Northwest is one that can be dealt with only if the diverse participants work together on the many issues that unfold over the long meandering path laid out by the salmon over their lives—from clear cold streams where they hatch, to the ocean where they grow, and back again to their natal streams to spawn. Owing to the wide distribution of Pacific anadromous salmon, the region over which the salmon-human interactions play out cuts acrosslocal, state, and international boundaries; across the responsibilities of many human institutions designed to deal with parts of the problem; and across the lands and waters used in many different human endeavors. The interactions with human activity cannot be solved by the action of single groups or by focusing on single issues and single causes. In a sense, Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest challenges society to deal with this large issueinvolving environmental, resource, and human considerationsat the time and space scales necessary to prevent further declines or perhaps even rehabilitate the human-salmon system.

John J. Magnuson

Chair

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