Thus, adequate numbers of fish available for catch are needed to supply the demand. As a private citizen, I believe in sustained yield management of all natural resources consistent with the over-riding goal of protection of biodiversity. For coastal salmon populations the most important factor is probably degradation of spawning and rearing habitat caused by poor watershed management - excessive logging, urbanization, agricultural chemicals and diversion of streamflow. The disregard of the effect of development and resource exploitation on salmon runs has had some very real economic costs while benefiting various special interest groups. To correct the problems caused by exploitation of resources, some painful decisions must be made.
Cheap power is a good case in point.
More water flushed to facility smolt movement results in less cheap power later. Nonetheless, in my experience, it is always cheaper to prevent a problem, than to restore things to previous conditions. Most of the causes of salmon run decline may be traced back to exploitation of resources somewhere. High seas drift nets, other commercial fishing, too much sport fishing, logging, urbanization, dams and power generation, and agricultural activities creating excessive runoff and waste are all related to profit-making. The opportunity to catch and keep salmon in reasonable numbers for sportfishermen is the general goal of salmon fisheries management.