Spare the salmon and reap the revenue, report says

Businesses that bite the bullet and change their ways of operation see benefits on the bottom line and in the environment.

February 7, 2000
Web posted at: 4:39 p.m. EST (2139 GMT)

What's good for salmon is good for the profit column, says a group of economists, academicians and environmentalists in the Pacific Northwest.

"Endangered salmon are indicators of both ecological problems and inefficiencies and waste within regional economies," said Bob Doppelt, director of the Center for Watershed and Community Health at Portland State University and coordinator of a research project on Pacific Northwest salmon.

"Our [study] suggests that efforts to improve stream health will also improve the environmental efficiency of our economy which will translate to cost savings and increased productivity for firms, communities and the public sector."

The report, "Saving Salmon, Saving Money: Innovative Business Leadership in the Northwest," challenges the notion that saving Pacific Northwest salmon is a snag to the area's economy. Figures provided by 137 Northwest businesses, ranging from small restaurants to The Boeing Company, show that improvements in streams and salmon habitat also benefit the bottom lines of these businesses.

At least 19 salmon populations in Washington and Oregon are extinct. Nearly all of the remaining populations, including coho, chinook, chum, pink, sockeye, steelhead trout and sea-run cutthroat trout, are listed as endangered or threatened. Seventy percent of watersheds in Washington and 50 percent of watersheds in Oregon are home to endangered or threatened salmon.

As development in the Pacific Northwest continues at a furious pace, so does the struggle to preserve the environment in the face of a brazen economy. In the past few years, several businesses, often working in cooperation with local government, have saved money and spared nature in the same stroke.

The salmon report analyzed economic data provided to public agencies by businesses and organizations representing nine industries and employing one-third of the work force in Washington and Oregon.

"We found that actions [on the part of businesses] to protect water quality, salmon habitat and the environment generated significant cost savings, increased efficiency and productivity for firms, organizations and the region. It's just plain good business," said Karin Sable, assistant professor of economics at the University of Puget Sound and co-author of the report.

From mom-and-pop stores to major manufacturers, companies proved to their customers and to themselves that steps taken for the good of the environment can also produce a healthier bottom line.