Orcas face many threats, but chief among them is scarcity of their main food: chinook salmon. The Columbia and Snake rivers, once the most prolific chinook salmon landscape on the planet, have been a critical source of food for orca during the lean winter months when other salmon populations are especially scarce. Historically, salmon returns to the mouth of the Columbia River ranged between 10 and 30 million fish. In recent decades, however, their numbers have plummeted, and recent returns of wild salmon are just 2-3% of historic levels.
Chinook salmon comprise of 80% of the Southern Resident orcas’ diet. So when salmon are in trouble, the orca are too. The steep declines of Snake River spring chinook are a big part of the problem orca face today; restoring this river and its large, fatty fish is also a critical part of any solution.
The biggest threat to endangered salmon in the Snake River Basin, of course, are the four costly and deadly dams on the lower Snake. Columbia and Snake River salmon must pass through these dams and reservoirs twice – as juveniles migrating out to the ocean and as adults returning to their natal streams to spawn. The federal system of dams kills up to 70% of Snake River fish each year and costly federal efforts ($16B and counting) to protect them have been consistently found to be illegal and inadequate.
(Photo Credit: Save Our Wild Salmon)
To save orca, we must save the salmon they depend upon. Salmon and fishing advocates, including the Sierra Club, have long called to restore this historic river and replace the dams’ modest services – energy and transportation - with investments in clean and reliable alternatives. At long last, our region is starting to see political leadership emerge in the Northwest – acknowledging the failures of the status quo and pushing for new and far more effective ways forward. Restoring the lower Snake River and its salmon through dam removal is now squarely on the table.
In 2018, Senator Patty Murray of Washington led the charge to stop the harmful, anti-salmon HR 3144 in Congress (aided by a stirring floor speech by Rep. Earl Blumenauer from Oregon). The same year, Washington Governor Jay Inslee established the Orca Task Force to stop and reverse the decline of starving orcas. This year, the Washington State legislature approved funding for a Stakeholder Forum to create a community contingency plan for if/when the dams are removed. Earlier this spring, Congressman Mike Simpson of Idaho expressed his serious concern for both the financial plight of the Bonneville Power Administration and the existential plight of salmon returning to Idaho via the Snake River. He pledged to do “whatever it takes” to make sure that Idaho gets its salmon back within his lifetime. This Republican from a deeply red state stated clearly that dam removal must be an option.
Oregon, of course, has long been a strong ally of salmon advocates – partners in litigation challenging illegal federal salmon plans and pushing hard for government accountability and real salmon restoration. From the Snake River fork that runs through the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest to the coastal fishing towns at the mouth of the Columbia, the impacts these dams have on salmon impact Oregon’s ecosystems and economy are real. This year, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife predicted forecasted returns to be half the 10-year average, and on May 16, the Department made the decision to close the Snake River to spring chinook salmon fishing for the season.
The time is now! Northwest states must come together and work collectively to fix the big problems facing Snake River salmon, Southern Resident orcas and regional communities. Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown and its congressional leaders must help to seize this moment to help develop a complete and sustainable solution that protects orca, salmon, ecosystems, and communities. Stay tuned for further updates, activities, and ways that you and your friends and families can help.
