It was pointed out that the study is not yet finished and it will be interesting to see what the costs are for other hatcheries. We Oreo kind are hung up on the closure of the Trask, Salmon and Cedar Creek hatcheries. These are in Tillamook County and most of the tourism money is really fish related. As one city of T offical pointed out, tourist don't come there to see the cows get milked or smell that stuff that they pump onto the pastures to make the grass grow. There isn't anyway out of the treaties made years ago. Those costs could go on as long as a salmon is in the Columia system. What the real costs are and what the real benefits might be, seems to be something that everyone would like to know. Who will ever say? Do you think a group hired to be consultants to power interests will ever give the fish a fair representation? Did you notice that only 26 fish were back for the Eagle facility? That drove the price per fish up nearly 400% over last year and the two prior years. What if no commercial gillnets were in, might it be only one tenth that or one hundredth that cost per fish?
I don't know and I doubt anyone else does. I think
there is a lot of merit to both the pro and con
arguments of hatcheries. I do wish we would put a dollar sign on what fish mean to various economies. It might mean that we need them here or there, and would be better off if closed in other places. The article speaks of this as an $80 million dollar issue for the northwest. Thats a lot of money. Not so much however when you remember that Oregon alone brings in several times that amount just from the sale of Christmas Trees each year. My hope is we can keep it all in perspective and make some good decisions. If government had behaved in a more honest and responsible manner in the past I'd say let them make the decision that needs to be made. I do not believe that this the proper approch at this point in time. That means to me that we should talk about this. Try to be well informed and give the guy who dosn't take your side his full share of time to say what he thinks. In the meantime catch the hell out of them even if you put them all back!