The CRI, using runs from 1980 through 1994, sees dam removal as ineffective on its own and concludes the stocks are in dire condition. These different views to a large degree represent different snapshots of the expanding knowledge of salmon in the context of a dynamic and changing ecosystem. Ultimately, nature and humanity together control the fate of the stocks. It gives us valuable time to pause and reflect on the best course of action. In my judgment, the arguments on the impacts of the hydrosystem have mostly reached an impasse.
Fish survive the hydrosystem and transportation.
To understand what is killing them in the estuary and ocean, we must observe the fish in these environments. Anderson, J. J. 2000. Decadal climate cycles and declining Columbia River salmon. Edited by E. Knudsen et. CRC Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton.