Billions in conservation spending fail to improve wild fish stocks in Columbia Basin

Decades of conservation spending amounting to over $9 billion in adjusted tax dollars have yielded no improvement in the population of wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin, as revealed by research conducted at Oregon State University (OSU).

The study, headed by William Jaeger from the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, analyzed 50 years of data and concluded that while the numbers of hatchery-reared salmon have increased, there is no evidence of a net increase in naturally spawning wild salmon and steelhead.

These findings were published in PLOS One.

Jaeger, an applied economics professor, explained that steelhead, Chinook, coho, and sockeye salmon populations have been under significant pressure in the Columbia River Basin for more than 150 years due to overharvesting, hydropower development, and adverse impacts from activities such as farming, logging, mining, and irrigation.

“The actual impact of all of these efforts has always been poorly understood,” Jaeger said. “Most studies evaluating restoration efforts have focused on specific species, life stages, or geographic areas, which limits our ability to make broad inferences at the basin level. This raises a critical question: Is there any evidence of an overall increase in wild fish abundance resulting from the totality of the recovery efforts?”

Based on five decades of fish return data at Bonneville Dam, the main entry point to the basin, the research found no support for a net increase in wild fish abundance associated with restoration spending.

Jaeger noted that while hatchery production has contributed to the overall number of adult fish, it has also negatively affected wild stocks due to genetics, disease, competition for resources, and predation by hatchery fish.

The study highlights the controversy surrounding the role of hatcheries in recovery plans. Although hatchery production combined with restoration spending has led to increased adult fish returns, the overall impact on wild fish remains subpar.

Even expenditures on long-term habitat improvements failed to show evidence of a return on investment in the recovery of naturally spawning wild salmon and steelhead.