Publisert: 11.02.05

Bush gillar inte att laxen skall fria vandringsvägar. Var det noen som förväntat sig noe annat? skriver Hans Schibli til Fiskeguiden i dag, og vedlegger denne artikkelen fra New York Times:

Dam removal no longer an option in USA


In order to protect salmon the Clinton administration policy in 2000 allowed for the
removal of federal dams on the rivers Columbia and Snake. The Bush administration
has rejected this option directed at the preservation of 11 threatened species of
salmon and steelhead.

According to an opinion issued by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration the government declared that the eight large dams on the lower
stretches of the Columbia and Snake rivers are an unalterable part of the salmon's
environment. The threatened fish could be protected by measures such as
transporting fish around obstacles and the construction of new devices such as
water slides to make it easier for fish to run to the sea. The total cost of this
project is estimated at $6 billion over 10 years.


The attitude of the Bush administration has produced angry reaction from tribes and
environmentalists who consider that this decision will have negative consequences on
the salmon which is a symbol in the North West. They believe this decision and
assessing endangered species by including fish bred in hatcheries with wild salmon
will weaken protection for salmon.


These measures are considered insufficient by environmentalists but officials from
the fishing division consider them sufficient to protect salmon which are victims of
overfishing, dam construction, industrial pollution and expanding suburbs.
Environmentalists think that the administration is settling for a status quo and are
retreating from the aim of rehabilitating solid populations. This is not the opinion
of a spokesman for the fisheries who considers action taken and envisaged to be
sufficient for salmon protection.


During a conference officials from the fisheries division and the agencies concerned
indicated that they had drawn up a letter addressed to all the citizens of the North
West explaining that this approach did not represent a weakening of their commitment
to salmon rehabilitation.


An official from the Northwest regional office of the fisheries service declared
that the actions proposed by the federal agencies were positive for fish protection
as there were already fish ladders on dams to provide easier access to spawning
grounds on the higher stretches of the rivers for many adult fish. He added that
this policy was a roadmap to guide the operations of the federal agencies and to
provide powers for the authorities responsible for the dams on rivers Columbia and
Snake. It includes an appendix with detailed prescriptions for reducing risk factors
for eight of the eleven species concerned. But a representative of the National
Wildlife Federation indicated that the letter addressed to the citizens was not a
formal biological opinion and that consequently it did not constitute a legal
commitment. John Kober, the wildlife program manager in Seattle declared that if the
plan was put into action in ten years' time we would be exactly where we are today.