Twig, I don't think there is much to debate here. Habitat issues are the root of the problem.


Hatcheries clearly are not the ideal, but in the face of poor habitat what can you do? You can fix it but mainly that takes lots of time, $s, and the discpline not to mess things up again once they're fixed.

I don't think this is practical for the near future. Do you think anyone is seriously considering removing grand coulee for the sake of salmon passage?

The question is what can be done to improve the lot of wild salmon. I certainly think that banning all hatcheries would help a little. But that would put all fishing pressure on wild fish and some runs clearly cannot withstand that.

I think the better alternative is do what we can to fix the root of the problem (ie first stop all futher habitat degradation and then improve habitat that has been degraded).

I think WTs arguement about hatcheries is BS. There positionas I understand it is that stopping hatcheries is a good idea beacuse its easier to do than fixing the habitat. I don't dispute that changing or stopping current hatchery practices might help a little but thats not at the heart of the problem. Habitat is the biggest problem by far.

Using the logic of treating minor problems first, an ER doctor when faced with a patient with a beesting and gunshot wound to the chest would treat the beesting because it is easier.

Not hard to figure out what would happen to such a patient. Likewise given WTs strategy, I think you can guess what the future might hold for salmon if we continue on this path.

This just doesn't seem like a reasonable solution.

Its about the habitat