[6] Whale Scientists Endorse Snake River Dam Removal

Six long-time whale researchers have sent a letter to NOAA Fisheries knocking the newest draft hydro BiOp for the Columbia and Snake rivers, arguing that it's still not enough to produce self-sustaining runs of salmon, runs that would be large enough to provide a healthy food resource for resident orca populations in the Northwest.

Both the resident orca population (about 90 individuals) and most Snake and Columbia salmon runs are listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The researchers called on the federal agency "to follow the science" and remove the four dams on the lower Snake.

But Donna Darm, assistant regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries and head of the area's Protected Resources Division, said there is no evidence that the resident orcas from Puget Sound eat salmon from the Snake River, though some whales from the group have been sighted off the mouth of the Columbia at certain times of the year, mainly in early spring.

The researchers' letter, which was cc'd to members of Congress and West Coast governors, also claimed that removing the dams would substantially increase spawning habitat for fall chinook in the lower Snake, and "greatly increase the availability of a critical food source for endangered Southern Resident killer whales, particularly chinook salmon during the winter months."

The letter likely overstated the benefits for fall chinook from breaching since three-quarters of the fall population's spawning grounds were blocked by Idaho Power's Hells Canyon complex; few ever spawned in the lower Snake (NMFS Status Review, 1991). Plus, there's little evidence that the Snake fall chinook spend the winter off the coasts of Washington and BC. There is more data that shows lower Columbia tule stocks, who spawn below the hydro system, do forage in these waters during the winter and early spring.

However, Darm said her office would likely reintroduce the notion of including the whales' range in the critical habitat designations in the final hydro BiOp. She said there was general agreement that it should be included, but a time squeeze prevented it from getting into the draft BiOp released by NMFS on Oct. 31.

She said federal researchers are just now putting together more information about what the whales eat in the ocean. The resident orca pods spend most of their time foraging in the San Juan Islands, Puget Sound and southern Georgia Strait, but they have been sighted as far north as the Queen Charlotte Islands and as far south as the central California coast. The resident orcas seem to be finicky eaters compared to the ocean roaming non-resident orcas--they prefer chinook salmon above all else, but feast on chum after chinook runs are over, and turn their noses up at marine mammals like sea lions and seals, a main part of the non-resident orca diet.

"Not only are salmon from the Columbia River an important historic food source, recovered abundant salmon in this river are an indispensable requirement for the future recovery of Southern Residents," said Dr. David Bain, one of the signatories, in a Nov. 20 press release from the conservation coalition Save Our Wild Salmon. Bain is a killer whale biologist at Friday Harbor Labs operated by the University of Washington. None of the signatories to the letter work for federal agencies, but some have done consulting work for NOAA Fisheries said agency spokesperson Brian Gorman.

Just yesterday, the conservation coalition issued another press release, announcing that more than a hundred Northwest chefs and "food professionals" have signed a letter targeting removal of the lower Snake dams. "People enjoy coming to the table and being able to identify not only where their fish came from, but how it was harvested and sometimes even the name of the fisher," said Chris Keff, Chef and Owner of Seattle's Flying Fish restaurant. "Although this demand is rising, our salmon fishery is collapsing and only a long-term commitment to protecting and restoring salmon habitat will ensure that wild Pacific salmon continue to grace our table."

Keff's comments don't gibe with reality. Though the Washington commercial troll fleet has dwindled over the years, mostly from reduced coho catches, serious fishers have moved to more productive fishing grounds in Southeast Alaska, where they still catch plenty of Columbia River chinook to satisfy fresh markets, with dock prices better than $3 a pound. Recent genetic analyses of catches show that Columbia chinook make up about 25 percent of the total harvest in the troll fishery (265,000 in 2007) there and many of them come from hatcheries. About 30 percent to 40 percent of the spring troll fishery off Vancouver Island is made up of Columbia-bound fish as well. -B. R.

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