Recovery and Management Options for Spring/Summer Chinook Salmon in the Columbia River Basin

• DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5493.977
• Publication Date: 2002-07-27T09:47:44Z
• Authors: Peter Kareiva; Michelle Marvier; Michelle McClure
• Keywords: Chinook wind; Population decline

Construction of four dams on the lower Snake River (in northwestern United States) between 1961 and 1975 altered salmon spawning habitat, elevated smolt adult migration mortality, contributed to severe declines populations. By applying a matrix model long-term population data, we found that (i) dam passage improvements have dramatically mitigated direct mortality associated with dams; (ii) even if main stem survival were 100%, spring/summer chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) would probably continue decline toward extinction; (iii) modest reductions in first-year or estuarine reverse current declines.