Bush: No More Stocked Salmon

Stocking salmon hurts the natural population.  So the story goes.  So, stop stocking salmon and the wild fish will flourish.

Conceding that using hatcheries to supplement dwindling salmon populations is harming wild salmon species in some cases, the Bush administration plans to move away from the practice in favor of a more direct solution: Catch fewer fish.

Others don’t see it that simple:

“Hatcheries were intended to replace habitat behind dams,” said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, which represents California commercial fishermen. “If they close all the hatcheries, we want some dams down, too.”

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Spain, of the fishermen’s group, said fishing accounts for only 5 percent of human-caused salmon deaths in the Columbia Basin, while hydroelectric dams account for 80 percent.

Wow, 5% from fishing.  Sounds like it is time to outlaw fishing before it gets out of hand.

Next, Pennsylvania will see this as a move to stop stocking trout.

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