Concerning Drop In White Sturgeon Abundance Prompts Fisheries Managers To Recommend No Retention Fishing Below Bonneville Dam
February 8th, 2023
Oregon and Washington fishery agencies announced they will not propose commercial or recreational white sturgeon fishing this year downstream of Bonneville Dam due to a projected low abundance of legal-sized fish, according to a joint status report released this week by the states.
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Draft Report Documents 2022 Sea Lion Fish Predation Numbers At Bonneville Dam; Notes Huge Take Of Struggling White Sturgeon
February 8th, 2023
Sea lions continue taking a big bite out of spring fish runs at Bonneville Dam. More than 8 percent of winter steelhead and more than 3 percent of spring Chinook salmon were picked off by Steller and California sea lions that prey on the fish below the dam, according to a draft report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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Draft Report Out For Comment On Improving Flows, Water Temps In Yakima River Delta To Aid Salmon, Steelhead
February 2nd, 2023
In partnership with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking for public feedback on a draft report studying proposed next steps to restore flows for fish in the Yakima River delta.
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Council Reaches Out To State Agencies To Discuss ‘Alarming Conclusions’ Of Study Detailing Impacts To Salmon From Cormorants On Astoria Bridge
January 26th, 2023
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.
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How Much Are Sea Lions, Seals Contributing To Salmon Decline In Washington Waters? Will Require Targeted Lethal Removal To Find Out
January 20th, 2023
There is a “preponderance” of evidence that sea lions and seals (pinnipeds) in Washington’s Salish Sea and outer coast have contributed to the decline of salmon and steelhead in state waters, concludes a recent report by the Washington State Academy of Sciences.
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BPA Dishes Out $1.3 Million To Anglers For Reeling In 140,000 Northern Pikeminnow In Columbia/Snake Rivers; Top Angler, $69,000 For 7,000 fish
December 21st, 2022
In 2022, anglers caught and removed more than 140,000 northern pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake rivers, which the Bonneville Power Administration says is protecting hundreds of thousands of young salmon and steelhead from predation.
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Pinniped Removal At Willamette Falls Drops Extinction Risk For Wild Winter Steelhead; 376 Sea Lions Euthanized On Columbia, Willamette Since 2008
December 16th, 2022
A program that has lethally removed sea lions from sections of the Columbia River and at Willamette Falls since 2008 is saving thousands of salmon and steelhead, many listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. The program is significantly dropping the risk of extinction for wild winter steelhead in the Willamette River, according to biologists.
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Where To Put The Birds? Research Says Cormorants Chased Off Columbia River Estuary Island Eat Far More Salmon, Steelhead Upstream
November 16th, 2022
Double-crested cormorants will eat many times more salmon and steelhead per bird as a proportion of their diet the farther they are pushed upstream in the Columbia River estuary, according to a presentation this week at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee meeting.
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Efforts Under NOAA Permit To Remove, Euthanize Salmon-Eating Sea Lions In Columbia, Willamette Rivers Showing Promising Results
July 28th, 2022
A recent report on pinniped predation shows that the presence of California sea lions at Bonneville Dam has declined significantly since 2015 when 195 of the marine mammals were observed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the dam’s tailraces. The number in 2021 was just 24.