Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Potential Effects of Dams on Migratory Fish in the Mekong River: Lessons from Salmon in the Fraser and Columbia Rivers

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We compared the effects of water resource development on migratory fish in two North American rivers using a descriptive approach based on four high-level indicators: (1) trends in abundance of Pacific salmon, (2) reliance on artificial production to maintain fisheries, (3) proportion of adult salmon that are wild- versus hatchery-origin, and (4) number of salmon populations needing federal protection to avoid extinction. The two rivers had similar biological and physical features but radically different levels of water resource development: the Fraser River has few dams and all are located in tributaries, whereas the Columbia River has more than 130 large mainstem and tributary dams. Not surprisingly, we found substantial effects of development on salmon in the Columbia River. We related the results to potential effects on migratory fish in the Mekong River where nearly 200 mainstem and tributary dams are installed, under construction, or planned and could have profound effects on its 135 migratory fish species. Impacts will vary with dam location due to differential fish production within the basin, with overall effects likely being greatest from 11 proposed mainstem dams. Minimizing impacts will require decades to design specialized fish passage facilities, dam operations, and artificial production, and is complicated by the Mekong’s high diversity and productivity. Prompt action is needed by governments and fisheries managers to plan Mekong water resource development wisely to prevent impacts to the world’s most productive inland fisheries, and food security and employment opportunities for millions of people in the region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agostinho A, Gomes L, Veríssimo S, Okada E (2004) Flood regime, dam regulation and fish in the upper Paraná River: effects on assemblage attributes, reproduction and recruitment. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 14:11–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed M, Navy H, Vuthy L, Tiongco M (1998) Socioeconomic assessment of freshwater capture fisheries in Cambodia: report on a household survey. Mekong River commission, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 186 pp

  • Andrew F, Geen G (1960) Sockeye and pink salmon production in relation to proposed dams in the Fraser River system. International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission, Bulletin XI, 259 pp

  • Anonymous (1971) Fishery problems related to Moran Dam on the Fraser River. Report prepared by technical staffs of Canada Department of Environment, Fisheries Service, and the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission, 206 pp. http://openlibrary.org/b/OL14232809M/Fisheries_problems_related_to_Moran_Dam_on_the_Fraser_River. Accessed Sep 2009

  • Araki H, Berejikian B, Ford M, Blouin M (2008) Fitness of hatchery-reared salmonids in the wild. Evolutionary Applications 1:342–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Araki H, Cooper B, Blouin M (2009) Carry-over effect of captive breeding reduces reproductive fitness of wild-born descendents in the wild. Biology Letters 5:621–624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baird I (2006) Probarbus jullieni and Probabus labeamajor: the management and conservation of two of the largest fish species in the Mekong River in southern Laos. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 16:517–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bajkov A (1951) Migration of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Columbia River. Oregon Fish Commission Research Briefs 3:8–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Baran E (2006) Fish migration triggers in the Lower Mekong Basin and other tropical freshwater systems. MRC technical paper no. 14, Mekong River Commission, Vientiane, Lao PDR, 56 pp

  • Baran E, Myschowoda C (2009) Dams and fisheries in the Mekong Basin. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 12(3):227–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baran E, Baird I, Cans G (2005) Fisheries bioecology at the Khone Falls (Mekong river, southern Laos). WorldFish Centre, Penang, p 84

    Google Scholar 

  • Baran E, Jantunen T, Chong C (2007) Values of inland fisheries in the Mekong River Basin. WorldFish Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 76 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baran E, Meynell P, Kura Y, Agostinho A, Cada G, Thuok N, Hamerlynck O, Winemiller K (2009) Dams and fish: impacts and mitigation; methods and guidelines to forecast, assess and mitigate the impact of hydropower dams on fish resources in the Mekong Basin. WorldFish Center, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 127 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow C (2008) Dams, fish and fisheries in the Mekong River basin. Mekong River Commission, Catch & Culture 14(2):4–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow C, Baran E, Halls A, Kshatriya M (2008) How much of the Mekong fish catch is at risk from mainstem dam development? Mekong River Commission, Catch & Culture 14(3):16–21. http://www.mrcmekong.org. Accessed Jun 2009

  • Beamesderfer R, Rien T, Nigro T (1995) Differences in the dynamics and potential production of impounded and unimpounded white sturgeon populations in the lower Columbia River. Transaction of the American Fisheries Society 124:857–872

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell M (1991) Fisheries handbook of engineering requirements and biological criteria. US Army Corps of Engineers. Northwestern Division, Portland, Oregon

    Google Scholar 

  • Berejikian B, Ford M (2004) Review of relative fitness of hatchery and natural salmon. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NWFSC-61, 28 pp. http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications. Accessed Jun 2009

  • Buehle E, Holsman K, Scheuerell M, Albaugh A (2009) Using an unplanned experiment to evaluate the effects of hatcheries and environmental variation on threatened populations of wild salmon. Conservation Biology 142:2449–2455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler V, O’Connor J (2004) 9, 000 years of salmon fishing on the Columbia River, North America. Quaternary Research 62:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell I, Say S, Beardall J (2009) Tonle Sap Lake, the heart of the lower Mekong. In: Campbell IC (ed) The Mekong: biophysical environment of an international river basin. Elsevier Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman D (1986) Salmon and steelhead abundance in the Columbia River in the nineteenth century. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 115:662–670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connor W, Sneva J, Tiffan K, Steinhorst R, Ross D (2005) Two alternative juvenile life history types for Fall Chinook salmon in the Snake River Basin. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 134:291–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dauble D, Johnson R, Garcia A (1999) Fall Chinook spawning in the tailraces of Lower Snake River hydroelectric projects. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 128:672–679

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deap L, Degen P, van Zalinge N (2003) Fishing gears of the Cambodian Mekong. Cambodian Fisheries technical paper series, vol IV. Phnom Penh, 269 pp

  • Department Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) (2005) Recovery assessment report for interior Fraser coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Science Advisory Report 2005/061

  • Dugan P (2008) Mainstream dams as barriers to fish migration: international learning and implications for the Mekong. Mekong River Commission, Catch & Culture 14(3):9–15. http://www.mrcmekong.org. Accessed Jun 2009

  • Dugan P, Barlow C, Agostinho A, Baran E, Cada G, Chen D, Cowx I, Ferguson J, Jutagate T, Mallen-Cooper M, Marmulla G, Nestler J, Petrere M, Welcomme R, Winemiller K (2010) Fish migration, dams, and loss of ecosystem service in the Mekong Basin, Ambio. doi:10.1007/s13280-010-0036-1

  • English K, Robichaud D, Sliwinski C, Alexander R, Koski W, Nelson T, Nass B, Bicjford S, Hammond S, Mosey T (2006) Comparison of adult steelhead migrations in the mid-Columbia hydrosystem and in large naturally flowing British Columbia river. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 135:739–754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evenden M (2004) Fish versus power: an environmental history of the Fraser River. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson J (2008) Estimation of percentages for listed Pacific salmon and steelhead smolts arriving at various locations in the Columbia River Basin in 2008. Memorandum to James H. Lecky, dated January 26, 2009, 66 pp. NOAA Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, Washington

  • Ferguson J, Absolon R, Carlson T, Sandford B (2006) Evidence of delayed mortality on juvenile Pacific salmon passing through turbines at Columbia River dams. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 135:139–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson J, Sandford B, Reagan R, Gilbreath G, Meyer E, Ledgerwood R, Adams N (2007) Bypass system modification at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River improved the survival of juvenile salmon. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 137:1487–1510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson J, Ploskey G, Leonardsson K, Zabel R, Lundqvist H (2008) Combining turbine blade-strike and life cycle models to assess mitigation strategies for fish passing dams. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 65:1568–1585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes R, Agostinho A, Ferreira E, Pavanelli C, Suzuki H, Lima D, Gomes L (2009) Effects of the hydrological regime on the ichthyofauna of riverine environments of the Upper Paraná River floodplain. Brazilian Journal of Biology 69(2, Suppl):669–680

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fleishman E, Murphy D, Brussard P (2000) A new method for selection of umbrella species for conservation planning. Ecological Applications 10:569–579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (2005) Dams, fish and fisheries. Text by Gerd Marmulla. In: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Rome, Updated 27 May 2005. http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/14785/en. Cited 13 March 2010

  • Foran T, Manorom K (2009) Pak Mun Dam: perpetually contested? In: Molle F, Foran T, Käkönen M (eds) Contested waterscapes in the Mekong region: hydropower, livelihoods and governance. Earthscan, London, pp 55–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraser D (2008) How well can captive breeding programs conserve biodiversity? A review of salmonids. Evolutionary Applications 1:535–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friend R, Arthur R, Keskinen M (2009) Songs of the doomed: the continuing neglect of fisheries in hydropower debates in the Mekong. In: Molle F, Foran T, Käkönen M (eds) Contested waterscapes in the Mekong region: hydropower, livelihoods and governance. Earthscan, London, pp 23–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Froese R, Pauly D (eds) (2010) FishBase. World Wide Web Electronic Publication. www.fishbase.org, (version 11/2009)

  • Gregory S, Li H, Li J (2002) Conceptual basis of ecological response to dam removal. Bioscience 52:713–723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gustafson R, Waples R, Myers J, Weitkamp L, Bryant G, Johnson O, Hard J (2007) Pacific salmon extinctions: quantifying lost and remaining diversity. Conservation Biology 21(4):1009–1020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halls A, Paxton B (in press) The stationary trawl (dai) fishery of the Tonle Sap-Great Lake system, Cambodia. In: State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2010. FAO, Rome

  • Hare S, Mantua N, Francis R (1999) Inverse production regimes: Alaska and West Coast pacific salmon. Fisheries 24(1):6–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haro A, Castros-Santos T, Noreika J, Odeh M (2004) Swimming performance of upstream migrant fishes in open-channel flow: a new approach to predicting passage through velocity barriers. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 61:1591–1601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) (2009) Report to Congress on Columbia River Basin hatchery reform. http://www.hatcheryreform.us/. Accessed Feb 2010

  • Hogan Z (2004) Pangasianodon gigas. Environmental Biology of Fishes 70:210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogan Z, Moyle P, May B, Vander Zanden M, Baird I (2004) The imperilled giants of the Mekong. American Scientist 92:2–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Hortle K (2007) Consumption and yield of fish and other aquatic animals from the Lower Mekong Basin. MRC technical paper no. 16. Mekong River Commission, Vientiane, Lao PDR, 87 pp

  • Hortle K (2009a) Fishes of the Mekong- how many species are there? Mekong River Commission, Catch & Culture 15(2):4–12. http://www.mrcmekong.org. Accessed Jul 2009

  • Hortle K (2009b) Fisheries of the Mekong River basin. In: Campbell IC (ed) The Mekong: biophysical environment of an international river basin. Elsevier Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Independent Economic Advisory Board (IEAB) (2005) Economic effects from Columbia River Basin anadromous salmonid fish production: IEAB Report 2005-1. Report to Northwest Power Planning Council, Portland Oregon, 46 p, plus Appendices. http://www.nwcouncil.org. Accessed Mar 2010

  • Jackson D, Marmulla G (2001) The influence of dams on river fisheries. In: Marmulla, G (ed) Dams, fish and fisheries. Opportunities, challenges and conflict resolution. FAO Fisheries technical paper no. 419, Rome, pp 1–44

  • Jutagate T, Poomikong P, Rattanajamnong D, Guangkwang W, Lek S (in press) Mitigation measures help conserve the fish biodiversity from river damming by applying sluice gate management scheme in Thailand. Maejo International Journal of Science and Technology

  • Keefer M, Peery C, Daigle W, Jepson M, Lee S, Boggs C, Tolotti K, Burke B (2005) Escapement, harvest, and unknown loss of radio-tagged adult salmonids in the Columbia River–Snake River hydrosystem. Canadian Journal Fisheries and Aquatic Science 62:930–949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keefer M, Peery C, Caudill C (2008) Migration timing of Columbia River spring Chinook Salmon: effects of temperature, river discharge, and ocean environment. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 137:1120–1133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kottelat M (2001) Fishes of Laos. Wildlife Heritage Trust, Colombo, p 198

    Google Scholar 

  • Larinier M (2001) Environmental issues, dams and fish migration. In: Marmulla, G (ed) Dams, fish and fisheries. Opportunities, challenges and conflict resolution. FAO Fisheries technical paper no. 419, Rome, pp 45–90

  • Levin P, Zabel R, Williams J (2001) The road to extinction is paved with good intentions: negative association of fish hatcheries with threatened salmon. Proceedings Royal Society London 268:1153–1158

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lichatowich J (1999) Salmon without rivers, a history of the Pacific Salmon crisis. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu S, Lu P, Liu D, Jin P, Wang W (2009) Pinpointing the sources and measuring the lengths of the principal rivers of the world. International Journal of Digital Earth 2(1):80–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas M, Baras E (2001) Migration of Freshwater Fishes. Blackwell Science, Oxford 420 pp

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McKenney B (2001) Economic value of livelihood income losses and other tangible downstream impacts from the Yali Falls Dam to the Se San River Basin in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. Oxfam America, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 21 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • McRae D, Pearse P (2004) Treaties and transition: towards a sustainable fishery on Canada’s Pacific coast. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Ottawa, Canada. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/bib107048.pdf. Accessed Mar 2010

  • Mekong River Commission (MRC) (2005) Overview of the hydrology of the Mekong basin. Mekong River Commission, Vientiane, Lao PDR 73 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Mekong River Commission (MRC) (2010) State of the basin report 2010. Mekong River Commission, Vientiane, Lao PDR 232 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Mighetto L, Ebel W (1994) Saving the salmon: a history of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to protect anadromous fish on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Report of Historical Research Associates, Inc. to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. www.nww.usace.army.mil/lsr/reports/save_salmon/salmontoc.htm#acknow. Accessed Aug 2009

  • Moser M, Zabel R, Burke B, Stuehrenberg L, Bjornn T (2005) Factors affecting adult Pacific lamprey passage rates at hydropower dams: using time to event analysis of radiotelemetry data. In: Lembo G, Marmulla G, Spedicato MT (eds) Aquatic telemetry: advances and applications. Proceedings of the fifth conference on fish telemetry held in Europe, Ustica, Italy, 9–13 June 2003. FAO/COISPA, Rome, 295 pp

  • Muir W, Smith S, Williams J, Sandford B (2001) Survival of Juvenile Salmonids Passing through Bypass Systems, Turbines, and Spillways with and without Flow Deflectors at Snake River Dams. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 21:135–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muir W, Marsh D, Sandford B, Smith S, Williams J (2006) Post-hydropower system delayed mortality of transported Snake River stream-type Chinook salmon: unraveling the mystery. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 135:1523–1534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council (NRC) (1996) Upstream: Salmon and society in the Pacific Northwest. National Academy Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council (NRC) (2004) Managing the Columbia River in stream: flows, water withdrawals and salmon survival. National Academy Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Navy H, Bhattarai M (2009) Economics and livelihoods of small-scale inland fisheries in the Lower Mekong Basin: a survey of three communities in Cambodia. Water Policy 11(Supplement 1):31–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nho P, Guttman H (1999) Aquatic resources use assessment in Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam (results from 1997 survey). AIT Aqua Outreach working paper no. SV-51. Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand

  • Northcote T, Atagi D (1997) Pacific salmon abundance trends in the Fraser River watershed compared with other British Columbia systems. In: Stouder D, Bisson P, Naiman R (eds) Pacific salmon and their ecosystems. Chapman and Hall, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Northcote T, Larkin P (1989) The Fraser River: A major salmonine productive system. In: Dodge D (ed) Proceedings of the International Large River Symposium. Canadian Special Publications Fisheries Aquatic Science 106

  • Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) (2001) Press release of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council dated June 27, 2001 titled “Council recommends projects to offset power emergency impacts on fish.” http://www.npcc.org. Accessed Jul 2009

  • Oldani N, Baigun C (2002) Performance of a fishway system in a major South American dam on the Parana River (Argentina-Paraguay). River Research and Applications 18:171–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oldani N, Baig′un C, Delfino R (1998) Approaches for fish passage and their performances in regulated rivers of the La Plata River basin, South America. In: Proceedings of Wetlands Engineering River Restoration Conference, Denver, March 22–27

  • Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) (2009) Report of the Fraser River Panel to the Pacific Salmon Commission on the 2005 Fraser River Sockeye and Pink Salmon Fishing Season. http://www.psc.org/index.htm. Accessed Feb 2010

  • Parrish D, Behnke R, Gephard S, McCormick S, Reeves G (1998) Why aren’t there more Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 55(Suppl. 1):281–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsley M, Beckman L (1994) White sturgeon spawning and rearing habitat in the lower Columbia River. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 14:812–827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pess G (2009) Patterns and processes of salmoncolonization. PhD Thesis, University of Washington. http://www.fish.washington.edu/index.html. Accessed Feb 2010

  • Porcher J, Travade F (2002) Fishways: Biological basis, limits and legal considerations. Bulletin Francais de la Peche et de la Pisciculture 364:9–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poulsen A, Poeu O, Viravong S, Suntornratana U, Tung N (2002) Fish migrations in the Lower Mekong Basin: implications for development, planning and environmental management. Mekong River Commission technical paper no. 8, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

  • Rab M, Hap N, Ahmed M (2004) Socioeconomics and values of aquatic resources in Cambodia: results from a sample survey of Great Lake and Mekong Bassac Rivers. In: Presentation at the 7th Asian Fisheries Forum, 30 November to 4 December 2004, Penang, Malaysia

  • Rainboth W (1996) FAO species identification field guide for fishery purposes: fishes of the Cambodian Mekong. FAO, Rome, p 265

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-Galiván F, Garrido G, Nicieza A, Toleda M, Braña F (1996) Fish community variation along physical gradients in short streams of northern Spain and the disruptive effect of dams. Hydrobiologia 321:155–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricker W (1987) Effects of the fishery and of obstacles to migration on the abundance of Fraser River sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka). Canadian Technical Report Fisheries Aquatic Sciences No. 1522

  • Risenbichler R, Rubin S (1999) Genetic changes from artificial propagation of Pacific salmon affect the productivity and viability of supplemented populations. ICES Journal of Marine Science 56:459–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts T (1993) Just another dammed river? Negative impacts of Pak Mun Dam on fishes of the Mekong Basin. Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 41:105–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts T (2001) On the river of no returns: Thailand’s Pak Mun Dam and its fish ladder. Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 49:189–230

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roos J (1991) Restoring Fraser River salmon: a history of the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission 1937–1985. The Pacific Salmon Commission. Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Schalk R (1986) Estimating salmon and steelhead usage in the Columbia Basin before 1850: the anthropological perspective. Northwest Environmental Journal 2(2):1–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheuerell M, Zabel R, Sandford B (2009) Relating juvenile migration timing and survival to adulthood in two species of threatened Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). Journal of Applied Ecology 46(5):983–990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedell J, Luchessa K (1982) Using the historical record as an aid to salmonid habitat enhancement. In: Armantrout NB (ed)Acquisition and Utilization of Aquatic Habitat Inventory Information. Proceedings of a Symposium Held October 28–30, 1981, Portland, Oregon, pp. 210–223. The Hague Publishing, Billings, Montana

  • Selbie D, Lewis B, Smol J, Finney B (2007) Long-term population dynamics of the endangered Snake River sockeye Salmon: evidence of past influences on stock decline and impediments to recovery. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 136:800–821

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sjorslev J (2001) An Giang fisheries survey. Report for the Component Assessment of Mekong Fisheries; AMFC/RIA2. Mekong River Commission, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

    Google Scholar 

  • Starr P (2006) Fishers agree to help conserve critically-endangered Mekong giant catfish. Mekong River Commission, Catch and Culture 12(1):4–8. http://www.mrcmekong.org. Accessed Aug 2009

  • Technical Management Team (TMT) (2009) 2009 Water management plan. Internal report of the Columbia Basin Water Management Plan: Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. http://www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/tmt. Accessed Aug 2009

  • Thorncraft G, Harris J (2000) Fish Passage and Fishways in New South Wales: a status report. Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology (Australia), Technical Report 1/2000, 32 pp

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (2009a) Annual fish passage report, Columbia and Snake Rivers for salmon, steelhead, shad, and lamprey. Northwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland, Oregon. https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/fishdata/docs/afpr2007.pdf. Accessed Aug 2009

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (2009b) Fish passage plan: Corps of Engineers Projects, Internal report. https://www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/tmt/documents/fpp/2009. Accessed Aug 2009

  • Valbo-Jorgensen J, Coates D, Hortle K (2009) Fish diversity in the Mekong River basin. In: Campbell C (ed) The Mekong: biophysical environment of an international river basin. Elsevier Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Videler J (1993) Fish swimming. Chapman Hill, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Schouten R, Sripatraprasit P, Amornsakchai S, Vidthayanon, C (2000) Fish and fisheries of the Pak Mun Dam. World Commission on Dams, Bangkok, 51 pp

  • Waples R (1991) Definition of “species” under the Endangered Species Act: Application to Pacific salmon. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS F/NWC-194. http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications. Accessed May 2009

  • Waples R, Johnson O (1991) Status Review for Snake River Sockeye Salmon. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo., NMFS-F/NWC-195. http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications. Accessed Feb 2010

  • Waples R, Zabel R, Scheuerell M, Sanderson B (2008) Evolutionary responses by native species to major anthropogenic changes to their ecosystems: Pacific salmon in the Columbia River hydropower system. Molecular Ecology 17:84–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward J, Stanford J (1979) The ecology of regulated streams. Plenum Press, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Wardle C (1975) Limit of fish swimming speed. Nature 255:725–727

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Warren T (2000) Impacts to fish populations and fisheries created by the Nam Theun-Hinboun hydropower project, Lao PDR. http://www.mekong.es.usyd.edu.au/events/past/Conference2000/Papers/Warren.pdf. Accessed May 2010

  • Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW and ODFW) (2009) Joint State Staff report: stock status and fisheries for fall Chinook salmon, coho salmon, chum salmon, summer steelhead, and white sturgeon, Dated July 16, 2009. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/crc/crcindex.htm. Accessed Mar 2010

  • Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW and ODFW) (2010) Joint State Staff report: stock status and fisheries for spring Chinook, summer Chinook, sockeye, steelhead, and other species, and miscellaneous regulations, Dated February 4, 2010. http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/crc/crcindex.htm. Accessed Feb 2010

  • Williams J (2008) Mitigating the effects of high-head dams on the Columbia River, USA: experience from the trenches. Hydrobiologia 609:241–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams J, Matthews G (1995) A review of flow and survival relationships for spring and summer Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, from the Snake River Basin. Fishery Bulletin 93:732–740

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams J, Smith S, Muir W (2001) Survival estimates for downstream migrant yearling juvenile salmonids through the Snake and Columbia River Hydropower System, 1966–1980 and 1993–1999. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 21:310–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams J, Smith S, Zabel R, Muir W, Scheuerell M, Sandford B, Marsh D, McNatt R, Achord S (2005) Effects of the Federal Columbia River Power System on Salmonid Populations. U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Tech, Memo, NMFS-NWFSC-63, 150 pp. http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications. Accessed May 2009

  • Winston M, Taylor C, Pigg J (1991) Upstream extirpation of four minnow species due to damming of a prairie stream. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 120:98–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter H, Van Densen W (2001) Assessing the opportunities for upstream migration of non-salmonid fishes in the weir regulated River Vecht. Fisheries Management and Ecology 8:513–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Commission on Dams (WCD) (2001) Dams and development: a new framework for decision-making. Earthscan Publications, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Yim C, McKenney B (2003) Domestic fish trade: case study of fish marketing from the Great Lake to Phnom Penh. Working paper no. 29. Cambodia Development Resource Institute, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 24 pp

  • Zabel R, Faulkner J, Smith S, Anderson J, Holmes C, Beer N, Iitis S, Krinkle J, Fredricks G, Bellerud B, Sweet J, Giorgi A (2008) Comprehensive Passage (COMPASS) Model: a model of downstream migration and survival of juvenile salmonids through a hydropower system. Hydrobiologia 609:289–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Zigler S, Dewey M, Knights B, Runstrom A, Steingraeber M (2004) Hydrologic and hydraulic factors affecting passage of paddlefish through dams in the upper Mississippi River. Transactions American Fisheries Society 133:160–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the Mekong River Commission, specifically Tim Burnhill, for developing a map of the mainstem dams proposed in the Mekong basin that was used to develop Fig. 1. We thank Jeff Cowan from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center for his help in developing the maps used in Figs. 1, 2, and 4. We adapted Fig. 3 from PSC (2009). We adapted Fig. 5 from a figure originally presented in NRC (1996), which we updated using data provided by Robin Ehlke, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. We thank the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for providing the adult salmon count data from Bonneville Dam used to develop Fig. 6. Finally, we thank James Peacock of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center for his assistance in developing and formatting all of the figures for publication. Points of views or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not reflect an official view or position of the author’s affiliations. We received no direct financial support, but minor in-kind support from NOAA Fisheries (Ferguson), WorldFish Centre (Dugan) and the Mekong River Commission (Barlow) was used to produce this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NOAA Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Seattle, Washington, 98112, USA

    John W. Ferguson

  2. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Michael Healey

  3. WorldFish Centre, Penang, Malaysia

    Patrick Dugan

  4. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, Australia

    Chris Barlow

Authors
  1. John W. Ferguson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael Healey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Patrick Dugan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chris Barlow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John W. Ferguson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ferguson, J.W., Healey, M., Dugan, P. et al. Potential Effects of Dams on Migratory Fish in the Mekong River: Lessons from Salmon in the Fraser and Columbia Rivers. Environmental Management 47, 141–159 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9563-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9563-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation