Wild salmon recovery and inconvenient reality along the west coast of North America: indulgences atoning for guilt?

The history of efforts to reverse the long-term decline of Pacific salmon in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia provides instructive policy lessons for their recovery. From California to southern British Columbia, wild runs of Pacific salmon have declined over the long-term and many have disappeared. Billions have been spent in so-far failed attempts to reverse the decline. The annual expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars continues, but a sustainable future for wild salmon in this region remains elusive. Despite documented public support for restoring wild salmon, the long-term prognosis for a sustainable future appears problematic. Fisheries scientists and others continue to craft restoration plans, but an effective, politically viable approach has yet to emerge, which will actually restore and sustain most runs of wild salmon in the region. For wild salmon, restoration options exist that offer both ecological viability and appreciably lower social disruption, but these options also tend to have more modest restoration objectives. Perhaps these billions of dollars being spent to recover wild salmon should be considered ‘guilt money’—modern-day indulgences—a tax that society and individuals willingly endure to alleviate collective and individual remorse. It is money spent on activities unlikely to achieve the recovery of wild salmon, but perhaps it helps many feel better as we continue the behaviors and choices that essentially preclude their recovery. WIREs Water 2015, 2:433–437. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1093 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.