STUDY DETAILS ROLE OF SMOLT ‘TIMING’ IN POST-HYDRO MORTALITY Posted on Friday, December 08, 2006 (PST)

Timing, not the stress from barge travel, is the most likely reason that transported juvenile Snake River spring chinook salmon have greater overall post-Bonneville Dam mortality than those migrating in-river to the ocean, according to an article published in the November edition of the American Fisheries Society's on-line journal “Transactions.” Read More...

PRELIMINARY FORECAST HAS REDUCED FALL CHINOOK RETURN IN 2007 Posted on Friday, December 08, 2006 (PST)

The number of returning Columbia River fall chinook salmon next year will likely fall below 400,000 adult fish for the second year in a row, according to a preliminary forecast issued this week by the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife. Read More...

WASHINGTON TOUGHENS WATER QUALITY RULES FOR FISH HABITAT Posted on Friday, December 08, 2006 (PST)

The Washington Department of Ecology has revised a portion of the state's water quality standards that officials say will make dozens of watersheds across the state healthier for salmon and trout. Read More...

STUDY DOCUMENTS GLOBAL WARMING LINK TO OCEAN PRODUCTIVITY Posted on Friday, December 08, 2006 (PST)

A 10-year, satellite-based analysis has shown for the first time that primary biological productivity in the oceans - the growth of phytoplankton that forms the basis for the rest of the marine food chain - is tightly linked to climate change, and would be reduced by global warming. Read More...

COUNCIL ECONOMIC ADVISORS TO REVIEW SELECT FISHERIES REPORT Posted on Friday, December 08, 2006 (PST)

A long-running terminal fishing program in the Columbia River estuary costs more than the benefit it generates but does perform better economically than other basin harvest-producing enterprises, according to a recently completed draft report. Read More...