Fishing

Economics of the Salmon Industries

What was once the greatest salmon fishery in the world, now struggles to keep its head above water. In 1978 (only three years after the completion of the fourth of the four Lower Snake River dams), wild salmon returns on the Snake River plummeted by almost 90 percent (40,000 to just more than 5,000). Over the next 22 years, these runs averaged just 17 percent of the level scientists say is needed for recovery. Due primarily to better ocean conditions, basin wide salmon returns from 2001-2003 improved considerably from dismally low levels in the 1990s, but most wild salmon stocks still remain at high risk of extinction. In 2004, spring chinook salmon returned at only half the pre-season forecast, leading to early ends in several fisheries. In addition, the 2004 return of jack salmon - fish spending just one year in the ocean - indicates that the 2005 return will be lower still. The take home lesson is plain: restoring and improving habitats from headwaters to estuaries is the key to restoring both wild salmon and reliable annual fisheries as ocean conditions cycle up and down.

Fishing = Jobs and Money to the Economy of the Northwest

For millennia, salmon have been of central importance to the diet, economy, culture and religion of tribes in the Northwest. In 1855, tribes were guaranteed by the United States, the right "to take fish in all usual and accustomed places." So far, the U.S. government has failed to meet those treaty obligations. Fishing is not only a tradition and a part of tribal culture, it is also a primary source of income for many Northwest families who own tackle shops, manufacture boats, guide tours for fishermen and sell fish commercially. Studies funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show that between 1991 and 1996 angler spending dropped by more than $32 million and economic output fell by more than $106 million. In those five years, nearly 10,000 sportfishing industry jobs were lost. In the 1990s, the actual economic value of Columbia-based salmon fisheries dropped as low as $2 million. As recently as 1988 there were an estimated 62,750 salmon-dependent jobs in the Pacific Northwest (Pacific Rivers Council, 1992) in the commercial, recreational and Tribal fisheries combined, all of which generated about $1.25 billion to the regional economy. In many commercial fishing communities unemployment rates have reached over 50%.

A Glimpse into the Future

Not all fishing seasons have been bad. In 2001, the Columbia Basin enjoyed the largest Upper Columbia spring Chinook return since record-keeping began in the late 1930s - a whopping 410,000 fish. This was due to good river outflows in 1998 and 1999 when the juveniles were outmigrating and good ocean conditions thereafter. With each trip averaging about $103 to the economy, according to the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, the 2001 mainstem fishery contributed to Washington and Oregon about $15.4 million dollars. That number does not include fish caught in the tributaries of the Columbia.

In addition, economic studies from Idaho estimated the value of salmon sportfishing during the 2001 season at $90 million to Idaho alone. River communities like Lewiston, Orofino and Riggins were the major beneficiaries but profits trickled down to off-river communities like Grangeville, McCall and Cascade too. In Riggins, anglers spent $10.1 million representing 23 percent of the total sale of all goods in town.

On the commercial side, the Pacific Fishery Management Council estimated that personal income in coastal communities in 2001 was nearly triple the average for the previous five years. This was due almost exclusively to strong salmon runs. It is estimated that such investing in the removal of the lower Snake River dams will yield an additional $500 million/year in economic impacts to the region and support up to an additional 25,000 family wage jobs in the commercial fishing sector (Institute for Fisheries Resources, 1996).

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