Sustaining North American Salmon: Perspectives Across Regions and Disciplines

Preface

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781888569254.fmatter

Salmon are among the most economically and culturally significant fishes in North America, yet they are also among the most challenging species to manage. In large part, this challenge results from the fact that, in all regions of North America where they are found, salmon’s migration route crosses state, provincial, and national boundaries. Salmon produced in streams or hatcheries from one jurisdiction are often harvested in another. Changes to stocks and the habitats upon which they depend have forced managers to implement costly measures to protect and restore salmon, raising difficult social and political issues regarding who pays and who reaps the benefits. This book, based on a symposium held at the 1998 American Fisheries Society meeting in Hartford, Connecticut, documents an attempt to examine these issues in new ways—by contrasting salmon management experiences in different regions of North America and by viewing the problem from the perspective of an array of relevant disciplines.