Economic and biological analysis to aid system planning for salmon recovery in the Columbia River Basin

Runs of salmon in the Columbia Basin in the north-western United States have declined dramatically over the past 50 years, due to hydropower development, habitat degradation, over-harvest and other causes. This article describes a suite of models that analyze the biological effectiveness and financial costs of strategies designed to meet harvest and escapement goals for nearly 80 stocks of salmon simultaneously. Results suggest that finding a cost-effective solution requires that all aspects of the salmon life-cycle must be analyzed simultaneously. Policy implications and difficulties in using this modeling approach to inform regional decision-making also are discussed.