Pikeminnow are native to the basin. That makes them more "worthy" than hatchery salmon. Ironically, while pikeminnow DO eat juvenile salmonids, pikeminnow juveniles and carcasses are likely an important food source for juvenile salmon and steelhead.

Like the poster above, I think the dams on the Columbia creating smorgasbords for predators is why pikeminnow are assumed to be such a problem species there. In free-flowing rivers, there is no bounty on them. That is for a reason.

I figure all the stuff that was in these rivers before we started "managing" them belongs there. Everything we selectively eliminate from the system can have unknown consequences. We certainly don't need to provide them any "protection," but I don't think we should go out of our way to kill them at every opportunity.