Researchers Quantify Relationship Between Caspian Tern Predation Rates On Upper Columbia River Juvenile Steelhead And Returning Adult Fish
July 2nd, 2020
Caspian tern predation on steelhead smolts in the Columbia River has reduced the size of the juvenile migration by more than 20 percent each year also has reduced the number of adult steelhead that return to the river several years later.
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USFWS Proposes New Rule For Killing Fish-Eating Cormorants; Would Allow Major Increase In Allowable Take On West Coast
June 18th, 2020
The federal agency responsible for protecting sea birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is instead proposing to “responsibly manage” double-crested cormorants across the nation by permitting lethal taking of birds that eat fish, such as salmon and steelhead smolts, by states and tribes.
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Lake Pend Oreille Sees Highest Kokanee Density In Two Decades, Over 2.5 Million Fish; Low Point 10,000 Fish In 2007
June 11th, 2020
Fisheries researchers estimated that over 2.5 million adult kokanee occupied Lake Pend Oreille in the fall of 2019. This is the highest count on record since the mid-1990’s. As summer heats up, reports are starting to roll in that anglers are reaping the benefits of a highly abundant kokanee population.
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Lake Trout Being Netted In Idaho’s Stanley Lake To Reduce Predation Risk For Kokanee, Snake River Sockeye
June 11th, 2020
Idaho Fish and Game has contracted with a company to net lake trout in Stanley Lake during two-weeks in early June to reduce their population and reduce risk to endangered sockeye salmon populations. After the netting, sterile lake trout will be restocked in the summer and fall to continue to provide anglers a lake trout fishery at Stanley Lake.
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2019 Pinniped Predation Report: Sea Lions Take 3.3 Percent Of Salmon/Steelhead Run January Through May, Big Hit On Winter Steelhead
May 8th, 2020
Sea lions bit out a big chunk of the spring salmon and steelhead run in 2019, taking 3.3 percent of the fish passing Bonneville Dam, January through May.
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23-Member Task Force Set To Meet To Consider Recommendations For Expanding Lethal Removal Of Sea Lions In Columbia River, Tributaries
April 23rd, 2020
On May 12-14, NOAA Fisheries will convene a task force to make recommendations on the proposal to expand the lethal take of sea lions in the Columbia River basin. The sea lions have had a significant negative impact on salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act, and they also consume species of concern -- lamprey and sturgeon.
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California Study On Active Predator Removal Shows No Changes In Predation Rates On Juvenile Salmon
February 27th, 2020
A recent study found that active removal of predators in the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in California as a way to protect a native and imperiled species may not get the intended results.
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New Avian Predation Plan Needed? Tribes Say Simply Moving Birds Around A Whack-A-Mole Exercise
February 13th, 2020
In 2015, nearly half of steelhead smolts that began their journey to the ocean at Rock Island Dam on the upper Columbia River did not survive the onslaught of birds that feed on the smolts along the way, according to Blaine Parker, avian predation coordinator at the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
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Nearly 13,000 Pike Removed From Lake Roosevelt Since 2015, 3,658 Last Year; Co-Managers Report Funding Shortfalls To Maintain Effort
February 6th, 2020
Since 2015, when the efforts to suppress or eradicate non-native northern pike from Lake Roosevelt began, nearly 13,000 of the voracious fish have been removed from the huge reservoir that backs up behind Grand Coulee Dam on the upper Columbia River.