The Snake basin historically supported nearly fifty percent of the Chinook and steelhead in the entire Columbia Basin, but over the past 25 years, the Snake has averaged less than two returning adults for every 100 smolt.
“It is clear that breaching the four lower Snake River dams is necessary to (1) substantially improve the probability of recovering these cultural and ecological keystone species to healthy and harvestable populations and (2) safeguard those fishes from extinction.”
The AFS resolution confirms the path forward: the dams must go.
The AFS represents over 7,500 professional fishery scientists and resource managers across the world with the common mission of improving the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems.