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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States Approve Recreational Fishing Dates For Expected Decent Spring Chinook Return; Concerns Expressed About Impacts Of Too Much Early Fishing
February 26th, 2023
With a higher than average number of spring Chinook salmon forecasted to return to the Columbia River and pass Bonneville Dam this year, Oregon and Washington approved start and ending dates for recreational fishing in the river.
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NOAA Fisheries To Conduct Status Review Of Olympic Peninsula Wild Steelhead To Determine If ESA Listing Warranted
February 17th, 2023
NOAA Fisheries says it will consider listing Olympic Peninsula summer and winter steelhead threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. All populations of steelhead on the peninsula have continued to decline since 2017.
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Fishery Managers Expecting Over 300,000 Spring Chinook To Enter Columbia River This Year, 90 Percent Hatchery Fish
February 2nd, 2023
Columbia River fishery managers are expecting a larger run of upriver spring Chinook salmon to enter the river this year and cross Bonneville Dam, but barely 10 percent of the salmon would be of natural origin, according to a recently released joint Oregon and Washington report that includes preseason run size forecasts. That compares to actual returns in 2022 when 15.5 percent of the upriver run was of natural origin.
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WDFW Seeks Comment On Draft Update To Columbia River (ESA-Listed) Smelt Management Plan; Aim Is Sustainable Harvest
February 2nd, 2023
A draft plan for managing Columbia River threatened smelt (eulachon) is out for review by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Among the plan’s features is a transparent approach to evaluating when and if commercial and recreational fisheries can be adopted.
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Increased Sea Lion, Bird Activity In Lower Columbia River Indicates Smelt Run May Be On, Test Commercial Fishery Begins
January 26th, 2023
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.
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Washington State of Salmon Report: ‘Too Many Salmon Remain On Brink Of Extinction, Time Running Out’
January 13th, 2023
Of the seven species of salmon and steelhead that inhabit Washington state’s waters -- and are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act as at risk of extinction-- Hood Canal summer chum salmon and Snake River fall Chinook salmon are approaching their recovery goals, according to a biennial report soon to be released by the Washington Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office.
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Continued Low Upriver Columbia Basin (ESA-Listed) Steelhead Returns Prompt Fishing Restrictions In 2023
January 6th, 2023
Due to ongoing low returns of upriver summer steelhead in the Columbia Basin, fishing restrictions will continue in the new year in the Columbia River mainstem upstream of The Dalles Dam and in the John Day and Walla Walla Rivers.
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Successful Salmon Reintroduction: Sockeye Salmon Repopulating Okanagan Basin In Big Numbers
December 16th, 2022
By anyone’s measure, sockeye salmon runs have skyrocketed since 1997 in the Okanogan River basin when a transboundary workgroup decided to begin efforts to reintroduce the fish into Okanogan Lake in British Columbia, according to tribal biologists speaking at this week’s Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting.