"If the problem was in the ocean or the estuary, both populations would have been in trouble, " Bosse said.

CNN: Dam removal: Too little, too late for salmon?

"A model is only as accurate as the assumptions that go into it, " said Scott Bosse, a fisheries biologist at Idaho Rivers United.

CNN: Dam removal: Too little, too late for salmon?

According to Bosse, there is scant proof that egg-to-smolt survival, which occurs during the first year of life, has decreased since the four lower Snake River dams were constructed.

CNN: Dam removal: Too little, too late for salmon?

"This energy crisis will not spiral out of control or be brought under control by what happens to the Snake River dams, " said Scott Bosse of Idaho Rivers United.

CNN: Energy crisis affects Snake River dam proposal

Bosse points to a study conducted by the Plan for Analyzing and Testing Hypotheses, a 25-member group of biologists, engineers and statisticians representing federal entities, states and tribes, that compared upriver stocks of salmon to downriver socks.

CNN: Dam removal: Too little, too late for salmon?