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Outgoing NPCC Councilman Talks Straight on Salmon by Staff Wheat Life, May 2008

Larry Cassidy, Washington state's representative to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council for the past 10 years recently stepped down.

He discussed salmon recovery and the biological opinions under development in an interview conducted by the Columbia Basin Bulletin. An excerpt is reprinted here with CBB permission.

CBB: "How do you explain that since the listings, FCRPS Biops have been under continual litigation? Can you see that ever ending? What are the prospects for reaching that elusive 'recovery' goal?

Cassidy: Yes, I do. Anybody that expects pre-Eropean migration salmon and steelhead levels just isn't using commons sense. I don't think we can bring salmon and steelhead back to levels that existed in the 1850s. But I do think we can get a measure of recovery of these fish to the point where we can depend on them and we can have public harvest of them, whether it's commercial or recreational, and we have out tribal commitment we have to meet. I think we can get there. We have to continue to look at ways to separate the hatchery and wild fish, in terms of interceptions during fisheries. That's a stickler issue. It's going to require gear changes and other things of that nature. A lot of that depends on what happens with global warming and ocean temperatures. I am convinced that the ocean is a great contributor to the downfall of outbound migrants. I feel very comfortable with what's going on with POST (Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking). If they're getting to the ocean - and we're sure not getting them back - what's happening out there? We're going tofind more of that out during the next few years."

Related Sites:
Larry Cassidy, 10 Years Representing Washington on NPCC, Columbia Basin Bulletin, 3/7/8