Council/BPA Moving Closer To Approving Huge Increase For Hatchery Maintenance Due To Flush Revenue Year For BPA
May 18th, 2023
Spending on maintenance of Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead hatcheries, as well as fish screens, could see a significant bump in fiscal year 2024 if the full Northwest Power and Conservation Council approves a plan endorsed this week by the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee. That approval could come as early as the body’s June meeting.
Read the Full Article
Science Review Of 50-Year-Old Lower Snake Compensation Program (Hatcheries) Shows Missed Return Goals For Spring/Summer Chinook
May 18th, 2023
The number of spring/summer Chinook salmon adult returns produced by the eleven Lower Snake River Compensation Plan hatchery programs has declined by 75 percent since the program’s first years and, overall, has not produced the nearly 59,000 returning Chinook adults that is the program’s goal, according to a recent review by an independent panel of scientists.
Read the Full Article
With Large Boost In Revenues, BPA Steps Up Funding For Aging Hatcheries’ Maintenance, Repairs, Upgrades
March 16th, 2023
The Bonneville Power Administration says it will spend each year more than five times the amount it has spent in recent years for non-recurring maintenance needs at existing hatcheries beginning next year.
Read the Full Article
California Salmon: Shrinking Age Distribution Of Returning Spawners Increases Impacts Of A Bad Year, Warming Climate; Older Fish Rarely Observed
March 9th, 2023
By returning to spawn in the Sacramento River at different ages, Chinook salmon lessen the potential impact of a bad year and increase the stability of their population in the face of climate variability, according to a new study by scientists at UC Santa Cruz and NOAA Fisheries.
Read the Full Article
Legislatures Consider Bills To Further Restrict Gillnetters From Lower Columbia River Mainstem; Off-Channel Spring Chinook Fishing Days Approved
February 17th, 2023
Oregon and Washington legislatures are considering bills that would move more commercial gillnetters off the mainstem Columbia River. Washington lawmakers have introduced a bill that would prohibit gillnetting in the mainstem as of January 2025 and it would renew a gillnet license buyback program it began last year that cost about $14 million.
Read the Full Article
WDFW Seeking Comment On Draft Policy To Guide Hatchery Management With Tribes As Co-Managers
February 16th, 2023
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public comment on a draft policy to guide management of hatcheries in cooperation with tribal co-managers.
Read the Full Article
Pending Court Decision Could Decide Fate Of SE Alaska Chinook Trolling Seasons, Increased Salmon For Endangered Killer Whales
January 27th, 2023
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.
Read the Full Article
NOAA Fisheries Finalizes ‘Rebuilding’ Report To Inform Dialogue On Columbia River Basin Salmon Restoration
October 6th, 2022
NOAA Fisheries has finalized a report that identifies actions that the agency says have the greatest likelihood of making progress toward rebuilding populations of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River basin to “healthy and harvestable levels.” The agency had released a draft in July for limited comments.
Read the Full Article
Federal Judge Says NOAA’s Approval Of Southeast Alaska Troll Salmon Fishery Fails To Protect ESA-Listed Salmon, Whales
August 11th, 2022
A Seattle federal district court judge ruled this week that NOAA Fisheries’ authorization of the Southeast Alaska troll fishery violated the Endangered Species Act by approving harvest levels that fail to protect Southern Resident killer whales and wild chinook listed under the ESA.