Columbia River Basin Snowpack A Mixed Bag So Far, Water Supply Forecast At Dalles Dam (April-August) Now 89 Percent Of Normal
January 20th, 2025
Although the snowpack in the western and southern portions of the Columbia River basin are higher than normal, other areas to the north and to the east are near- to lower-than-normal, and, as a result, January water supplies at key dams are being reported as below or slightly below normal.
This Year’s Ocean Indicators Show Low Prey Numbers For Pacific Juvenile Salmon, Suggest Moderate-To-Poor Conditions For Young Salmon
December 15th, 2024
How did climate change impact ocean waters off the U.S. West Coast this past year? What does that tell us about the growth and survival of juvenile salmon for the years to come?
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NOAA Status Review Of Four Northern California/Southern Oregon Salmon/Steelhead Species Says All Should Remain ESA-Listed
December 15th, 2024
NOAA Fisheries has completed 5-year status reviews of the recovery progress and prospects of four salmon and steelhead species in Northern California and Southern Oregon and found that all four should remain threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
New NOAA Status Review Shows Olympic Peninsula Wild Steelhead Numbers In Steep Decline, Now At Moderate Risk Of Extinction
December 9th, 2024
A NOAA Fisheries biological status review team has determined that the summer and winter Olympic Peninsula steelhead are at moderate risk of extinction, a reversal of the previous status review in the 1990s that had determined the fish were not at risk of becoming threatened or endangered then or in the future.
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Count Of Mother-Calf Gray Whale Pairs Off West Coast One Of Lowest On Record Due To Reduced Food Availability In Arctic
November 18th, 2024
The number of gray whale calves migrating with their mothers along the California Coast this year was one of the lowest on record.
Researchers Find They Can Use E-DNA To Estimate Biomass Of Multiple Alaska Fish Species Simultaneously
November 18th, 2024
In a new study, NOAA Fisheries scientists, in partnership with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, show that it is possible to estimate fish biomass for more than one species at the same time, using environmental DNA (eDNA).
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NOAA Awards $9.2 Million To Academic Cooperative Institutes For Pacific Salmon Recovery Science
November 18th, 2024
NOAA Fisheries has awarded more than $9.2 million in grants funded by the Inflation Reduction Act to academic partners that will help recover threatened and endangered Pacific salmon.
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Nov.-April Operations At Bonneville Dam For ESA-Listed Chum Salmon To Begin; La Nina Coming, Bringing Wet Weather, Possible ‘Drought Removal’
November 1st, 2024
Threatened Chum salmon are arriving at spawning grounds downstream of Bonneville Dam, prompting the interagency Technical Management Team to begin operations at the dam designed to maintain a certain level of water over the fish as they spawn now and through emergence in April.
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For First Time Scientists Find Japanese Sardines In California Current, Marine Heatwaves May Have Opened Corridor Across North Pacific
November 1st, 2024
When research scientist Gary Longo first saw the results of his genomic analysis of sardines, he thought he must have mixed up his samples.
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NOAA Releases ‘West Coast Offshore Wind Energy Strategic Science Plan’ To Guide Research On Impacts To Marine Life
November 1st, 2024
Offshore wind energy may represent the most significant new commercial use of the ocean seen in many decades. As new offshore wind technology emerges off the U.S. West Coast, NOAA Fisheries has developed a strategic science plan identifying both opportunities and challenges for advancing the agency’s research and understanding of offshore wind in the region.
Tribal, Federal, State Leaders Celebrate $240 Million In Federal Funding For Maintenance, Upgrades To Tribal Salmon, Steelhead Hatcheries
October 18th, 2024
Tribal, federal, and state leaders gathered at the Tulalip Reservation earlier this month to celebrate $240 million in federal funding for tribal hatcheries. The Inflation Reduction Act investment will help 27 tribes from Northern California to Southeast Alaska meet maintenance and modernization needs of tribal Pacific salmon and steelhead hatcheries.
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NOAA Issues New EIS, BiOp To Allow Summer, Winter SE Alaska Chinook Troll Fishery Halted By Federal Judge In May
October 8th, 2024
Commercial troll fishermen in Southeast Alaska may soon be able to again legally fish for Chinook salmon in waters off the Alaskan shore. The SE Alaska troll fleet was facing a near shutdown of fishing after a District Court judge in May remanded NOAA Fisheries’ 2019 biological opinion and incidental take statement for the fishery.
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EIS Out For Public Comment On Hatchery Program To Increase Chinook Salmon For Southern Resident Killer Whales
October 8th, 2024
NOAA Fisheries is asking the public to weigh in on alternatives on how to fund a controversial hatchery-driven prey increase program that it says would provide 4- to 5-percent more Chinook salmon in Puget Sound for endangered Orcas.
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All Four Lower Klamath River Dams Removed, Several Years Work Ahead To Restore Formerly Submerged Lands
October 8th, 2024
All four lower Klamath River hydropower dams have been removed. Kiewit, the dam removal contractor hired by the Klamath River Renewal Corporation to complete the construction elements of the project, finished all work this month in the river.
2024 Draft Annual Salmon Survival Report: Smolt-To-Adult Return Rates Won’t Meet Regional Goals Under Non-Breach Alternatives
October 8th, 2024
The latest draft annual survival study by the Fish Passage Center confirms what the organization has found each year since 2019, that recovery of salmon and steelhead in the Snake River will not occur without breaching the four lower Snake River dams.
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Conservation Groups Settle Lawsuit With WDFW Over Lower Columbia River Hatcheries, Litigation Continues With NOAA, ODFW
September 28th, 2024
A lawsuit contending that lower Columbia River hatcheries downstream of Bonneville Dam are a threat to wild salmon and steelhead listed under the federal Endangered Species Act was settled in part last week.