Steve Fick of Astoria... has been a commercial
fisherman for most of his 43 years. He owns one of the
four fish-processing plants on the lower Columbia River
that still handle salmon. The greatest benefit to the
Pacific Northwest, he said, would come if the Snake dams
were breached, workers and farmers compensated, and
Idaho salmon given a chance to rebound. When I asked if
he was sure dams were the chief culprit in the downward
spiral of Columbia and Snake River salmon, he replied,
"Why did fishing not really go down until you started
throwing chunks of concrete in the river? Tell me that."
-Fen Montaigne, "A River Dammed," 2001
What is commercial fisherman Steve Fick's opinion of
the dam?
OIt had little impact on fishing salmon in the
Columbia and Snake Rivers.
OIt helped those who fish for salmon, but hurt those
who catch steelheads.
It harmed the commercial salmon fishing industry
along the Columbia River.
It gave a boost to commercial salmon fishing in the
Snake River.