Fisheries biologists have counted 13 adult sockeye that have made it all
the way back into the Stanley Basin, with three more holding below the
Sawtooth weir, for a total of 16 so far, according to the Idaho Fish and
Game Department.
Substantial concurrence between fish and wildlife managers and a
scientific panel on fish and wildlife project proposals in the "Columbia
Plateau" province figures to complicate decisions as the Northwest Power
Planning Council and Bonneville Power Administration launch into a new
post "MOA" era.
More than 1,200 adult spring chinook salmon, surplus from the Ringold
Hatchery near Priest Rapids, Wash., have been released into the Walla
Walla River in the second year of an effort to restore the extirpated
run.
The agency caught in the middle -- the Bonneville Power Administration
-- fielded questions Wednesday about how it might mete out "off-site
mitigation" fish and wildlife recovery funding as the lines blur between
federal Endangered Species Act mandates and those under the Northwest
Power Act.
Three federal hydroelectric operating agencies released for public
comment their long-anticipated plan on how they will operate the hydro
system and what they will do in the other "H's" -- hatcheries, harvest
and habitat -- to aid salmon recovery.
Columbia Basin state and tribal representatives gathered Wednesday to
discuss how they fit into salmon recovery plans that profess federal
responsibility but stress that success hinges in part on actions taken
outside federal agencies' direct authorities.
A self-described "five-year blueprint for fish recovery actions by the
three (action) agencies" was released this week in draft form --
detailing how Federal Columbia River Power System operators aim to meet
survival goals for salmon, steelhead and resident fish species listed
under the Endangered Species Act.
Responding to criticism, an independent science panel stands by its assessment that a "more cautionary approach" should be used in attempts
to supplement Columbia Basin wild salmon and steelhead populations with
surplus hatchery fish.
A quick-fix at Tumwater Dam on central Washington's Wenatchee River has
restored the flow of sockeye surging toward their spawning grounds --
and restored anglers' hope that they'll be able to pull the salmon from
Lake Wenatchee's waters for the first time since 1993.
The Bonneville Power Administration this week agreed to begin a limited
summer spill program at two lower Columbia River dams to help juvenile
salmon remaining in the river pass federal projects.
At the multi-agency Implementation Team meeting this week, BPA said it
can spill 30 percent of the river at The Dalles Dam for up to two weeks
and about 45,000 cubic feet per second for 5 hours per day at Bonneville
Dam, depending on actual river flow.
A 2001 trend towards early and abundant fish runs is continuing, with
upriver summer steelhead adult counts seemingly on a record pace.
The single highest daily steelhead count on record -- 10,181 -- was
charted Monday (July 23) at the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam ...
The number of endangered sockeye salmon swimming toward central Idaho's
Stanley Basin is a trickle compared to the relative gusher of adults
that made the trip up the Columbia, Snake and Salmon rivers last year.
But researchers involved in the captive broodstock program -- attempting
to revive a population that counted zero returning adults in 1997 and
one in 1998 -- remain optimistic.
With an estimated 400 or so adults and yearlings, and as many as 200
pups born this spring, wolf populations of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana appear to be thriving, according to the Gray Wolf Recovery Report issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service July 20.
Citing the failure of the Bush administration to increase funding for
recovery of endangered Columbia Basin salmon, Rep. Jim McDermott, D
Wash., on Thursday introduced legislation to develop contingency plans
for breaching four dams on the lower Snake River.
A recently published research paper concludes that young steelhead are
the favored targets of avian predators circling the Columbia River
estuary, a phenomenon the authors say could have dire implications for
some of the basin's most imperiled stocks.
A long-running difference of opinion about how, when or even if
supplementation should be used in Columbia Basin salmon recovery efforts
continues to simmer this summer, with an independent scientific report
on the practice again the focus.
In a June 29 letter, the heads of the two entities that sponsor the
11-member Independent Scientific Advisory Board defended the panel and
the conclusions made in a recently published review of "surplus"
hatchery salmon issues.
The clock began ticking today (June 22) on a process that will allow the
Bonneville Power Administration and its administrator better take a
"comprehensive, consistent and unified approach" toward its
responsibility to fund the multiple Columbia Basin fish and wildlife
recovery efforts.
A research project on Caspian terns in Commencement Bay has been cut
short due to concerns raised by tribal fisheries co-managers about the
birds' consumption of area salmon, according to the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Oregon House of Representatives on Tuesday approved by a 32-26 vote
a bill that would establish a moratorium on destroying hatchery-bred,
returning adult salmon while a scientific panel studies those fishes'
role in wild fish recovery.
Reacting to improved news about the region's electric system reliability
from the Northwest Power Planning Council, the Bonneville Power
Administration said today (May 25) that it will not only extend spill at
two lower Columbia River dams through next Friday, it will also spill
water through McNary and John Day dam spillways through Tuesday in an
effort to move juvenile salmon downstream.
An independent scientific panel this week urged regional entities to
learn as much as they can from this good news-bad news year for Columbia
Basin salmon recovery efforts.
The good news is that many of the basin's salmon stocks are returning
this year in larger, and sometimes record, numbers to spawn naturally or
revisit the hatchery of their origin.
The term "surplus hatchery fish" has, at least for this year, has been
erased from the Methow Basin salmon management dictionary following a
landmark agreement that focuses on the collection of local, naturally
spawning spring chinook to replenish hatchery egg banks and lets
unneeded hatchery stocks seek a spawning niche in the river's mainstem.
A bill that sponsors say would allow more hatchery salmon to spawn
naturally and require the state to use hatchery salmon eggs to replenish
fish runs was signed into law late Tuesday by Washington Gov. Gary Locke
over the protestations of the federal agency charged with protecting and
rebuilding "wild" salmon and steelhead runs.
Two Oregon leaders are supporting a plan by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, to
make Northwest salmon recovery a national priority and boost federal
funding by $400 million next year.
Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., this week gave his endorsement, and Gov. John
Kitzhaber praised the overall $688 million plan, which Crapo announced
on May 3.
The pickings have been somewhat meager to date, but state fishery
officials are hoping that an ongoing "tangle" or "tooth" net
experimental fishery will yield information that allows commercial
gill-net salmon fishers to regain a foothold in the Columbia River.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
