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SALMON RECOVERY: DEFENDING REALITY, DELUSIONS, AND OTHER ASSORTED TRUTHS
Citation:
Lackey, R T. SALMON RECOVERY: DEFENDING REALITY, DELUSIONS, AND OTHER ASSORTED TRUTHS. Presented at Seminar to Oregon District Office of USGS, Portland, OR, December 18, 2001.
Description:
Are professional fisheries scientists collectively guilty of encouraging delusions about the possibilities for restoring wild salmon to the Pacific Northwest? Do they perpetuate the fantasy that the Pacific Northwest will (or could, absent pervasive life-style changes) support wild salmon in significant numbers given the current trajectory of the region's human population growth coupled with most individuals' unwillingness to reduce substantially consumption of resources and standard of living? Purposely or not, fisheries scientists may end up misleading the public. It is easy for technical experts to find comfort in debating the nuances of hatchery genetics, evolutionarily significant units, dam breaching, salmon barging, selective fishing regulations, predatory bird control, habitat restoration, atmospheric and oceanic climate, and unintentionally mislead the public about the realities of the situation with wild salmon. As discomforting as it may be to disclose the most-probable future of wild salmon, the pivotal role of fisheries scientists is to provide information and assessments that are policy-relevant but policy-neutral, understandable to the public and decision makers, and scrupulously realistic about the future. Otherwise, they simply squander professional credibility to become acolytes of delusion.