6. Donate to nonprofits that are working to preserve, protect, and restore the chinook salmon.
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Commission
7. Do not participate in recreational fishing for chinook salmon in threatened areas, and encourage others to boycott this act. Do not endorse mass fishing or commercial fishing.
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
George Bernard Shaw
(Streefkerk, 2016)
3. Educate yourself and others on chinook salmon and dams by following social media accounts about this topic such as our @Save_Chinooks account on Twitter. Educating yourself with other credible websites is also a good way to get a thorough understanding of the problem. The following Oceana article does a wonderful job explaining the challenge dams pose, and the success that has occurred with the removal of dams: As Crisis Nears for Orcas and Salmon, Activists Urge the Removal of 4 Costly Dams.
4. Spread the word to others about this current species endangerment we are currently having. A great documentary film about dams and their harmful impact is called DamNation. Their website has the trailer and a short video about Freeing the Snake River.
5. Spread the success story of the Elwha River Dam Removal in Washington. Share this story with others to share the dam removal movement.
(Halama, 2016)
Films and documentaries that you MUST see if you are interested and passionate about this topic, or simply want to continue to educate yourself!
Patagonia Filmed a short documentary called “Free the Snake: Restoring America’s Greatest Salmon River” which shows how rivers are important for our environment, and how salmon are essential to keeping them healthy.
Patagonia filmed a
documentary called
which showed the most sustainable fishery in the world which has nearly no footprint or bycatch.
Patagonia documentary called “Super Salmon” shows the importance of salmon in Alaska as part of a livelihood, and as part of the culture.
On October 3rd, 2015,
Patagonia filmed a short
clip of 300 activists and conservationists who joined the “Free the Snake Flotilla” which called for the removal of the four dams on the Snake River.
“Salmon Confidential” is a documentary about salmon farms in Canada and Diseased Salmon. It tells the story of biologist Alexandra Morton discovering a government cover-up of a disease killing salmon.
A 2015 documentary
shows the perilous
journey salmon undergo to make their way through Alaska.
Image courtesy of Wix
Image courtesy of Wix
Image courtesy of Wix
Image courtesy of Wix
Image courtesy of Wix
How Can You Help a Species That Will Help You in Return!
There are ways to pitch in and contribute to this cause of preserving the chinook salmon species. The following ideas are ways that you can personally make a difference today.
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DO NOT purchase or eat “king salmon” or chinook salmon sourced from the Puget Sound or Columbia River. However, eating chinook salmon from Alaska and New Zealand is totally fine because it is sustainably sourced and benefits healthy fishing economies. For more information about what types of fish are sustainably caught visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Recommendations for which seafood items are the “Best Choices” or “Good Alternatives” and which ones you should “Avoid.” Each state has a custom list that you can choose from.
Image courtesy of Wix
How Can You Help?
2. Petition to have dams removed! While there may not be petitions to remove dams in the Central Valley and Columbia River, other dams need to be removed as well! This has been done before and can be achieved if people see how the chinook salmon are suffering. Below are several petitions that are actively taking place and can create real change:
Remove Snake River Dams & Save Salmon from Extinction
Southern Resident Orcas need Wild Snake River Salmon. Feds must breach now!
Speak for the Salmon - Free the Snake. Honor and Respect Treaty Rights of the Nez Perce!
"There's something majestic about a 30-pound Chinook salmon roasted and served whole - people get excited when you present it with the head and tail on. It has beautifully browned skin and extraordinary bright red flesh when you cut into it."
-Tom Douglas
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
Barrack Obama
"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."
-Mahatma Gandhi