Fixing culverts to propagate expanded fish runs is a foolish waste of taxpayer dollars when taken to the extreme.
The major problem with expanding fish runs and securing their survivability is the use of gill nets. The major players, commercial fishers and tribes, have committed large amounts of money to elected officials impeding resolution of the problem. The by catch of the gill net fishery means that wild and non-target fish under the Endangered Species Act will not flourish. The act is not observed by commercial fishers.
The solution to the problem has been known for a long time. The tribes on the upper Columbia River recently began using seine nets to selectively harvest tagged fish. This reduces cost per fish and gives a win-win solution to all fishers by allowing wild and non-target stock to escape. Evidence the large pink runs.
In the case of tribal rights, fishing in usual and accustomed manners is the use of fish traps and other methods, not gill nets. Allow tribal fishers and other gill net fishers on the rivers to use this method. The harvest quantities agreed to would not change, but the numbers and types of fish released would. Wild and other protected non-target fish would be released instead of being killed.
This doesn't mean stopping the replacement of culverts. Just use the time and money more judiciously. What is needed here is a true win-win for fish and man.
