Stretches of coasts and their rivers form enormous salmon nurseries for the exploring juveniles, the scientists said. The researchers documented coho salmon, steelhead, and cutthroat trout using coastal rivers separated by salt water, and suspect other species may do the same.
President Donald Trump, in an April proposed rule, has directed the Secretary of Commerce, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rescind the long-standing definition of “harm” to species covered by the federal Endangered Species Act. The existing definition of harm as the ESA is currently written, the Administration says, is contrary to the “best meaning” of the term “take.”
A Chinese mitten crab, a prohibited species in Oregon, was caught on April 22 in the Lower Columbia River east of Tongue Point, near Astoria. Chinese mitten crabs have not been confirmed in the Pacific Northwest until now. A single Japanese mitten crab was found in the same area in 1997.
The Center for Biological Diversity has notified the Trump administration that it intends to sue over what it says is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s failure to protect the imperiled Crater Lake newt under the Endangered Species Act. The newts live only in central Oregon’s Crater Lake, and their population has collapsed in recent years because of the expansion of introduced signal crayfish and warming lake temperatures from climate change.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating reports of sick and dead brown pelicans along the Oregon coast.
The 2025 Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery opened May 1, offering anglers the chance to earn cash while helping protect vulnerable salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake rivers. The fishery will be open daily through Sept. 30 at most locations.
The stranding team from NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center recovered 16 dead dolphins from San Diego beaches on Sunday, April 20.
