AGREEMENTS PROPOSE $980.5 MILLION FOR PROJECTS; SUPPORT FOR FEDS' SALMON STRATEGY Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

The Bonneville Power Administration this week announced draft agreements with four Columbia River basin tribes, and the states of Idaho and Montana, that would guarantee $980.5 million in funding for fish and wildlife projects over the next 10 years in exchange for support of the federal hydro system salmon recovery strategy. Read More...

REACTION: A MORE UNIFIED, EFFECTIVE APPROACH OR STATUS QUO? Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

A total of nearly $1 billion in fish and wildlife project funding promises either moves toward a more unified and successful Columbia River basin salmon restoration effort, or, depending on the perspective, attempts to dodge biological and legal truths. Read More...

PFMC RECOMMENDS WEST COAST'S MOST RESTRICTIVE OCEAN FISHING IN HISTORY Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

The Pacific Fishery Management Council on Thursday adopted the most restrictive salmon fisheries in the history for the West Coast, in response to the unprecedented collapse of Sacramento River fall chinook and the exceptionally poor status of coho salmon from Oregon and Washington. Read More...

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO COUNCIL F&W PROGRAM RAISE SLEW OF ISSUES Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council and staff, and parties interested in commenting, are set to pore through an avalanche of materials submitted as recommended amendments to the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. Read More...

OCEAN CONDITIONS: DO COLUMBIA AND ALASKA CHINOOK GO TO THE SAME PLACE? Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

Blame for declining runs of Pacific Northwest salmon has been cast broadly: habitat loss from logging and development, an abundance of predatory sea lions, power-generating dams, terns and other coastal birds that prey on juvenile fish, and over-fishing by commercial and sport fishermen. Read More...

SEA LION REMOVALS POSTPONED TO AWAIT LOOMING COURT DECISIONS Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

Any trapping and removal of California sea lions feeding on salmon below the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam will be postponed while a tightly scheduled legal fight is waged in Portland's U.S. District Court. Read More...

PINNIPED PREDATION REPORT: HAZING NOT REDUCING SEA LIONS' SALMON CATCH Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

A total of 35,000 cracker shells, rubber bullets and seal bombs were fired off last year in what was a doubling of the effort to discourage sea lion predation on salmon and steelhead below the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. Read More...

RESEARCHERS HOPE TO CONTINUE 'RIVER OF ORIGIN' SALMON STUDY Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

Commercial fishermen and scientists from Oregon, California and Washington have agreed to collaborate on a critical coast-wide study to learn more about salmon distribution, migration and behavior in the Pacific Ocean, but an alarming projected shortage of fish this year is putting their research in jeopardy. Read More...

APRIL FINAL RUNOFF FORECAST SHOWS BASIN AT 101 PERCENT OF NORMAL Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

It'll be late in coming, but its looks like the mountains that dot the Columbia River basin landscape will deliver an "average" water supply of water for the region's fish, drinkers, irrigators, hydro producers and others. Read More...

ONCE AGAIN, SPRING CHINOOK TAKING THEIR TIME RETURNING TO COLUMBIA Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 (PST)

For at least the fourth year in a row, passage of the upriver spring chinook salmon run at Bonneville Dam appears to be behind its historic schedule. Read More...