backlash two, I never said that predation wouldn't exist, I said that predation below the dams wouldn't exist. Dams are like a feeding station for Squawfish, that is why the vast majority are caught right below them. The thing is, most of the smolts they are feeding on are already stunned or dead.
Have you seen a Squawfish? They have no teeth, and move relatively slow. they are scavengers. Do you really think that they would be paying so much money to get rid of them if the dams weren't there? Who do you think pays the checks for the Squawfish program? Bonneville Power of course!
As for Bass and Walleye, of course they would still exist if the dams were removed, but obviously not in the numbers they do now. How many Bass and Walleye were in the Columbia before the dams???