Lessons From ‘Blob’ Will Help Manage Fisheries During Future Marine Heatwaves; ‘Greatest Immediate Climate Threat To Oceans’
June 8th, 2023
In early 2014, a great anomaly descended upon the seas: A patch of warm water that manifested in the Gulf of Alaska. Scientists called it “The Blob.”
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Alaskan, Russian Scientists Collaborate To Study How Ocean Warming Driving Bering Sea Fish Stocks Beyond Traditional Habitats
June 8th, 2023
As the ocean warms, marine fish are on the move—beyond their traditional habitats and across international boundaries. Understanding these patterns of movement is essential to predicting change and managing climate-resilient fisheries.
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Conservation Groups Petition For ESA Listing Of Washington Coastal Spring Chinook Showing Significant Declines
May 24th, 2023
The Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Rivers have filed a petition to list Washington coast spring Chinook salmon under the federal Endangered Species Act.
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Regional Researchers Mount Three-Year Effort To Study Impacts Of Climate Change Off Washington’s Coast; ‘A Sentinel Site’
May 18th, 2023
A team of Oregon State University researchers is leading a three-year effort to learn more about climate fluctuations in Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary using more than 20 years of oceanographic data.
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Tribes, Corps Studying Impacts Of Sediment Buildup (Deltas) At Mouths Of Columbia River Tribs; Impacts Temps, Predation, Salmon Survival
April 14th, 2023
The amount of sediment carried by Columbia River waters to the Pacific Ocean has declined by about half since Bonneville Dam was built in 1935. Much of the sediment no longer moved by the river has found a home at the mouths of tributaries, creating shallow sediment fans or deltas where warm water and predators impact juvenile salmon and steelhead, some listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
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Migratory Birds Can Partially Offset Climate Change, But Such Compensation Comes With Cost
April 14th, 2023
Deteriorating habitat conditions caused by climate change are wreaking havoc with the timing of bird migration.
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Comments On Corps’ Draft EIS for 13 Willamette Valley Dams Question Whether Plan Avoids Jeopardy For ESA-Listed Salmonids
March 23rd, 2023
A massive 2,000 page draft environmental impact statement on how Willamette River Valley dams impact threatened salmon, steelhead and bull trout is flawed and does not address one of its own primary goals, which is meeting obligations under the Endangered Species Act to avoid jeopardizing the existence of listed species, according to several groups and agencies that submitted comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in late February.
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With End Of La Nina, Ocean Conditions Likely Trending Downward For Salmon, Steelhead Survival, Mass Of Warm Water In North Pacific
March 16th, 2023
Good years in the Pacific Ocean for salmon and steelhead, as the last couple of years have been, are an anomaly. Instead, ocean conditions are generally trending downward, according to a NOAA Fisheries scientist briefing the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
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California Current Ecosystem Status Report Shows Disconnect Between Oceanographic Predictions, Observed Conditions
March 16th, 2023
Ecological relationships across the Pacific Coast that once guided annual expectations such as salmon returns are evolving as climate change disrupts long-standing connections. NOAA Fisheries researchers report these findings in their latest Ecosystem Status Report for the California Current Ecosystem.