A billion dollar fund to restore fish, but don’t expect any dams to be breached. That’s the gist of the NOAA’s third draft of the plan for the Columbia and Snake watersheds:

The draft plan would provide new equipment to detour fish around deadly dam turbines, manage spills to better match when fish are present, fine-tune hatchery programs, restore salmon habitat in tributaries, and control birds, sea lions and fish that prey on salmon. The extra cost probably would increase power rates.

The operative word is “trend” – as the plan hopes to “trend” the seven runs of salmon above Bonneville dam towards recovery – rather than actually recover them.

Today’s Sacramento Bee also mentions our local decline in returning Salmon, as only 20% of the fish have returned to spawn. Fish biologists are scratching their heads, but are noting the collapse of the krill population may be linked to the lack of fish.

Schwing said the population of krill has mysteriously crashed in the ocean. This zooplankton, which resembles a tiny shrimp, is a key salmon food.

It seems the noble salmon are in the grip of a vice, with pressures in both fresh and salt water conspiring against them.

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