Operators of the Hood River hatchery program want to increase the number of yearling spring chinook smolts by 40 percent, from 150,000 smolts released every year to 250,000 smolts, but a panel of scientists says it has more questions before the program should proceed.
Oregon and Washington set recreational spring chinook and winter steelhead fishing seasons in the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam that in April limits the number of days per week anglers will be allowed to fish. And, beginning March 1, angling for salmon and steelhead will not be allowed in the river from Warrior Rock at St. Helens, OR downstream to Buoy 10 to protect hatchery fish returning to Cowlitz and Lewis river hatcheries.
Washington and Oregon Fish and Wildlife directors are bringing the states closer to agreement on Columbia River fishery reform, including changes to mainstem commercial gillnetting and recreational/commercial allocations, at least for this year -- a goal they’ve been working towards since adopting the fishery harvest reforms in 2013.
Thirteen new Deschutes River basin habitat, water quality and fish passage projects are getting a combined $4.5 million in funding, with individual grants ranging from $51,000 for an Upper Deschutes Watershed Council fish passage project to $1.25 million for a Priday Ranch steelhead conservation project.
Using data from tens of thousands of stations worldwide, NOAA scientists have developed a method to estimate how the average global temperature may rank year-to-year in subsequent years. The method indicates a strong probability that future years will continue to be among the hottest on record.
A secret to survival amid rising global temperatures could be dwelling in the tidepools of the U.S. West Coast. Findings by University of California, Irvine biologists studying the genome of an unusual fish residing in those waters offer new possibilities for humans to obtain dietary protein as climate change imperils traditional sources.
The 2013 to 2016 marine heatwave—known as “The Blob”—is the largest warm anomaly ever recorded in the North Pacific. In the Gulf of Alaska, scientists have connected low numbers of Pacific cod larvae, juveniles, and adults to loss of spawning habitat.
