The three principal laws that mandate salmon recovery are the Federal Power Act, the 1980 Regional Power Act and the Endangered Species Act, as amended. The effort to save Northwest salmon is estimated to be the largest fish resource recovery program in the world, when measured in scope and cost. There are 126 salmon hatcheries in the Columbia Basin. In the Northwest region, there are 180 chinook and 80 steelhead hatcheries. All told, there are between 400 and 500 salmon hatcheries, including smaller private hatcheries, in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Hatcheries range from small fresh or saltwater rearing ponds to large, industrial facilities.
In both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, salmon have gotten smaller and smaller. In the Pacific, overfishing and hatchery production have been blamed. Federal government research has shown that juvenile salmon transported in barges return in greater numbers as adult than juveniles left to migrate downstream in the river. To pass dams when migrating downstream, juvenile fish can be diverted into a bypass system, be carried on spillway flow over the dam or be taken through the power turbines. Mortality from turbine passage varies from 5 to 10 percent, depending on river conditions and salmon species.