Commercial fishers in Southeast Alaska waters may soon lose two trolling seasons for Chinook salmon in order to provide more fish for endangered Southern Resident killer whales in Puget Sound. As a result of the possible termination of that fishery, the whales could gain nearly 5 percent in available prey, according to a judge’s recent report in a Washington federal court.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has asked the owner of the Astoria-Megler Bridge in Astoria to meet with them to talk about the double-crested cormorant problem in the Columbia River estuary.
The American Fisheries Society Governing Board issued a policy statement this month calling for breaching the lower Snake River dams to “safeguard” Snake River basin salmon and steelhead from going extinct.
Commercial fishers are already seeing more sea lions and more predator sea bird activity in the lower Columbia River, a sure sign that listed Eulachon, commonly known as smelt, are entering the river.
Wolves on an Alaskan island caused a deer population to plummet and switched to primarily eating sea otters in just a few years, a finding scientists at Oregon State University and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game believe is the first case of sea otters becoming the primary food source for a land-based predator.
The western bumble bee was once common in western North America, but increasing temperatures, drought, and pesticide use have contributed to a 57% decline in the occurrence of this species in its historical range, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey-led study.
Snow-capped mountains aren’t just scenic – they also provide natural water storage by creating reservoirs of frozen water that slowly melt into watersheds throughout the spring and summer months. Much of the Western U.S. relies on this process to renew and sustain freshwater supplies, and new research underscores the impacts of extreme weather conditions on this annual cycle.
