2024 Survival Rate Of Migrating Juvenile Salmon In Columbia/Snake Rivers? Hard To Say With Yet Another Year Of Low Detection, Tagging Rates

November 26th, 2024

Increased spill levels at Snake and Columbia river dams, along with lower water flow in the rivers, hampered the ability of scientists to tag and detect juvenile salmon and steelhead as they migrated downstream in 2024.

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Deschutes River Reintroduction Program This Year Sees Highest Return Yet Of Adult Summer Steelhead; Returns Across The Basin Up Over Recent Years

November 18th, 2024

Some 262 adult summer steelhead have returned to the Pelton Round Butte hydroelectric project’s trap on Oregon’s Deschutes River as of November 7 and all have been or will be released into Lake Billy Chinook.

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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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Corps Awards $657 Million Contract For Fish Passage Facility At Seattle Area Dam, More Spawning Habitat For ESA-Listed Chinook Salmon

November 1st, 2024

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded to a contractor $657 million for the the “Howard A. Hanson Dam Additional Water Storage Fish Passage Facility Project,” intended to increase the ability of Endangered Species Act - listed Chinook salmon to access substantially more spawning and rearing area – 221 square miles of undeveloped watershed. The earthen dam is on the Green River, 35 miles southeast of Seattle.

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First Salmon Since 1912 Spotted In Oregon’s Klamath Basin Months After Dam Removal

October 18th, 2024

On October 16, a fall-run Chinook salmon was identified by Oregon Department Fish and Wildlife fish biologists in a tributary to the Klamath River above the former J.C. Boyle Dam, becoming the first anadromous fish to return to the Klamath Basin in Oregon since 1912 when the first of four hydroelectric dams was constructed, blocking migration.

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Pacific Salmon Foundation Report Shows Widespread Declines For Most Salmon In British Columbia, Yukon

October 18th, 2024

Pacific salmon are in decline across British Columbia and the Yukon, according to a new report from the Pacific Salmon Foundation. More than 70 per cent of salmon are below their long-term average of the 41 combinations of regions and species assessed.

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What’s Happening In North Pacific Between Hatchery, Wild Salmon? Study Stresses More Research To Reduce Unintended Interactions

October 18th, 2024

There are more salmon in the North Pacific Ocean than at any time in the past 100 years, according to a study released this month. The increase is due to changes in the marine ecosystems caused by warming seas -- changes that mostly benefit pink salmon, industrial-scale hatchery production, and commercial fishing.

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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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Independent Scientists Review NPCC’s Basin Fish/Wildlife Program, Recommend More Comprehensive Climate Change Strategy

October 8th, 2024

In a recent review, a panel of scientists said the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program for the Columbia River basin is still changing and progressing after 40 years of implementation, but will need further updates and improvements, including a better strategy for incorporating climate change into the Program and a more comprehensive analysis of the outcome of removing the four lower Snake River dams.

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Chinook, Steelhead Return Forecasts Rise Again While Coho Booming; Coho, Steelhead Passage At Willamette Falls Way Up

September 27th, 2024

Oregon and Washington opened the entire mainstem Columbia River to fall Chinook and coho salmon fishing from Buoy 10 to the Oregon and Washington state border last week. The change by the two-state Columbia River Compact came at its Sept. 18 hearing and was based on an increase in expected fall Chinook returns, as well as higher than average returns of coho.

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Lamprey Returns To Columbia River ‘Disappointing’ This Year; Efforts Continue To Boost Numbers, Including Translocation To Tributaries, Better Dam Passage

September 26th, 2024

Some 22,038 Columbia River basin Pacific lamprey had been counted at Bonneville Dam’s fish ladders as of Sept. 22, one-half the 10-year average and only one-third the number that had passed the dam on this date last year.

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Steelhead Kelt Reconditioning: ‘Developing Relatively Uncertain Approach Into Viable Management Alternative To Enhance Spawner Abundance’

September 26th, 2024

The Bonneville Power Administration is funding the construction of a state-of-the-art steelhead kelt reconditioning facility in Julietta, Idaho aimed at restoring steelhead populations in the Clearwater River. The new facility will be built adjacent to Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery, which BPA funded in 2001, and is being constructed in partnership with Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and the Nez Perce tribe.

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Another Signal Too Many Hatchery Pink Salmon In North Pacific? Study Shows Pink Salmon Abundance Impacting Size Of Snake River Steelhead

September 13th, 2024

Competition with millions of pink salmon in the North Pacific Ocean, which are known for their two-year cycle of abundance, is resulting in shorter steelhead returning to the Snake River – also on a two-year cycle, according to a recent study.

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States Expand Salmon Fishing In Mainstem Columbia After 7 Percent Increase In Forecasted Upriver Chinook Return

September 13th, 2024

Oregon and Washington added more fishing days on the mainstem Columbia River and expanded the bag limit to three salmon for the Buoy 10 fishery at a hearing this week after a prediction of higher than previously forecasted returns of salmon and steelhead.

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New Juvenile Fish Passage Facility Completed At Cle Elum Dam, Part Of Project To Boost Sockeye Returns To Yakima River Basin

August 31st, 2024

The Bureau of Reclamation and partners of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan completed a new fish passage facility at the Cle Elum Dam in July that will allow juvenile sockeye salmon to naturally pass downstream. Once all parts of the Integrated Plan are in place, annual adult sockeye returns to the Cle Elum River are projected to rise from 20,000 fish to 100,000 fish.

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This Year’s Operations At Dworshak Dam Keep Snake River At Lower Granite Dam Cool Enough For Salmon Through August

August 31st, 2024

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ operation that began July 1 to maintain tailwater temperatures at Lower Granite Dam under 68 degrees Fahrenheit by releasing cool water from Dworshak Dam into the lower Snake River system is coming to an end this weekend.

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Scientists Review Upper Snake Tribes’ Assessment Of Salmon Losses Due To Construction Of Upper Snake River Dams

August 31st, 2024

A regional panel of scientists’ recent review of the Upper Snake River Tribes Foundation’s assessment of spring/summer Chinook losses resulting from the construction of upper Snake River dams said the Tribes’ analysis could be improved and gives pointers to help with a second round of work.

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Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission To Receive $794,000 From NOAA For Salmon Recovery In Columbia River Estuary

August 31st, 2024

Oregon U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is set to receive a $794,000 federal grant from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support their salmon recovery work and strengthen underserved communities impacted by climate change in the Columbia River Estuary. 

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Tribes Using $9.5 Million From NOAA For Salmon Habitat Restoration –Engineered Log Jams – On Washington’s South Fork Nooksack River

August 31st, 2024

NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation is investing $9.5 million through the Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to restore salmon habitat for South Fork Nooksack River Spring Chinook. Projects led by the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe will install engineered log jams in the river.

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Despite 20 Years Of Management Actions, Avian Predation Remains Substantial Source Of Columbia River Salmon, Steelhead Mortality

August 18th, 2024

As juvenile salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River basin migrate downstream to the ocean – mostly in the spring and summer – they run a gauntlet of avian predators. Birds are taking as much as 50 percent of these fish, with juvenile steelhead the hardest hit.

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Grande Ronde Tribes Receive NOAA Funding To Improve Conditions For Imperiled Chinook, Steelhead On Willamette Valley’s North Santiam River

August 18th, 2024

The North Santiam River is a high priority for the recovery of threatened Upper Willamette River spring Chinook and winter steelhead. Large dams upriver impaired natural stream processes, decimating fish populations. Development, shoreline armoring, and the disconnection of floodplains from the river damaged habitat key for salmon spawning and rearing juvenile fish.

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Fisheries Workshop Offers Latest Info On Deschutes River Salmon, Steelhead, Reintroduction Numbers

August 9th, 2024

The number of wild steelhead returning to the Deschutes River this year remains low, although the run is still in progress, while this year’s wild spring Chinook salmon run is in critical condition, as it has been for the past few years

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Nez Perce Tribe Begins Construction Of Kelt Reconditioning Facility, Aims To Improve Wild Snake River Steelhead Survival

July 26th, 2024

Snake River wild steelhead populations have declined significantly over the past several years, and this facility will be the first hatchery project in the basin aimed specifically at recovering this threatened run.

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Status Review: ESA-Listed In 1999, Upper Willamette Spring Chinook, Winter Steelhead Nowhere Near Recovery, Need Better Passage At Dams

July 17th, 2024

In a recently completed review of their status, NOAA Fisheries has determined that Upper Willamette River spring Chinook and Upper Willamette River winter steelhead should remain listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

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Though Sockeye Return To Columbia River Is Booming, Angler Retention Shut Down To Protect Struggling, ESA-Listed Snake River Sockeye

July 5th, 2024

Last week, Oregon and Washington fisheries managers shut down retention of Columbia River sockeye salmon from the ocean to the two-state border at Hwy 395 near Pasco, WA, even as the run size forecast rose twice and by early this week had nearly doubled.

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Study Finds Pacific Cod In Gulf Of Alaska Can’t Rely On Coastal Safe Havens For Protection During Marine Heat Waves, May Have To Move North

July 5th, 2024

During recent periods of unusually warm water in the Gulf of Alaska, young Pacific cod in near shore safe havens where they typically spend their adolescence did not experience the protective effects those areas typically provide, a new Oregon State University study found.

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With Air, Water Temps In Lower Snake Heating Up, Corps Releasing Cool Dworshak Flows To Aid Salmon, Steelhead

July 5th, 2024

The reservoir behind central Idaho’s Dworshak Dam is full (1,600-foot elevation), air temperatures in the lower Snake River basin are warming into the 100’s over the July 4 weekend and beyond, and tailwater temperature at Lower Granite Dam is warming towards 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the maximum allowed by NOAA Fisheries’ biological opinion on impacts of the federal hydroelectric system on salmon and steelhead.

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Bass Predation Primary Reason For Struggling Wild Chinook In Oregon River, ODFW Allowing Spearfishing To Remove The Invasive Fish

July 4th, 2024

Spearfishing for bass is allowed on southwest Oregon’s Coquille River through Oct. 31. Spears, spear guns and angling with bait to take smallmouth bass is allowed, and there are no harvest size or limits.

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Administration Report Describes Harm Of Dams To Columbia Basin Tribes, White House Sets Up Task Force To Coordinate Basin Salmon Recovery

June 21st, 2024

The Biden Administration this week released a controversial “Tribal Circumstances Analysis” acknowledging the harm 11 Columbia and Snake river dams have inflicted and continue to inflict on Columbia Basin Native American Tribes.

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WA Fish/Wildlife Commission Gets The Skinny On Columbia River Shad; ‘We Don’t Even Know If Shad Obstacle To Salmon Recovery Or Not’

June 21st, 2024

More than 1.6 million American shad have been counted at Bonneville Dam this year as of June 17 and a few of the non-native fish have even been counted as high in the river basin as Lower Granite Dam, the uppermost of the four lower Snake River dams, and Priest Rapids Dam in the mid-Columbia. For more than a decade they have outnumbered all other anadromous fish entering the river combined.

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Pacific Coast Gray Whales 13 Percent Shorter Than 20 Years Ago; Raises Concerns About Warming Waters, Lack Of Prey, State Of Marine Food Web

June 21st, 2024

Gray whales that spend their summers feeding in the shallow waters off the Pacific Northwest coast have undergone a significant decline in body length since around the year 2000, a new Oregon State University study found.

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Infrastructure Law Funding Restores Habitat On Section Of Oregon’s McKenzie River, Redds Showing Up

June 21st, 2024

NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation says the agency and its partners are increasing numbers of threatened Upper Willamette River Chinook salmon by restoring habitat in Oregon’s McKenzie River watershed.

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For First Time Invasive, Predatory Pike Show Up In Montana Clark Fork River Tributary, Posing Threat To ESA-Listed Bull Trout

June 21st, 2024

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is asking anglers to report any northern pike caught or observed in the Bull River, a tributary of the Clark Fork River, following the first confirmed detection of the predacious non-native fish. The Clark Fork River in northwest Montana flows into Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho.

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Upper Snake Flow Augmentation For ESA-Listed Juvenile Salmon Migration At Three-Year High

June 7th, 2024

Although water supplies throughout the Columbia River basin are generally in the 75- to 80-percent of normal range, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is saying that flow augmentation water out of the upper Snake River this year will amount to 471,000-acre feet of water.

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Climate Change Creating New ‘Open Gate’ Corridors For Pacific Salmon; Higher Abundance Seen In Canadian Arctic

June 7th, 2024

New research has connected warming ocean temperatures to higher Pacific salmon abundance in the Canadian Arctic, an indicator that climate change is creating new corridors for the fish to expand their range.

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Improved Ocean Conditions Giving A Boost To ESA-Listed Willamette Wild Winter Steelhead

May 31st, 2024

A threatened run of wild steelhead thought to be at a high risk of extinction in 2017 is making what could be a dramatic comeback in Oregon’s Willamette River. The comeback is mostly due to better ocean conditions and fewer sea lions feeding on the fish at Willamette Falls, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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Upper Columbia River Tribes Report Progress To Re-Introduce Salmon Upstream

May 31st, 2024

With a promised $200 million from the Bonneville Power Administration and nearly $100 million from other federal agencies and the state of Washington, Upper Columbia River tribes are moving into Phase II of a twenty-year effort to bring salmon back to blocked areas upstream of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams.

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States Reopen Spring Chinook Fishing Below Bonneville Dam, Still Closed Above; Allow 12 Hours Commercial Gillnetting On Mainstem

May 17th, 2024

Recreational anglers will return to the Columbia River to fish for spring Chinook salmon beginning today, May 17, for a total of 10 additional fishing days through June 15, but only downstream of Bonneville Dam.

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Elwha River Tribal Ceremonial Fishery To Open This Fall, Other Fishing Closed Until More Spawners Above Former Dam Sites

May 17th, 2024

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Olympic National Park, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that a tribal ceremonial and subsistence fishery for coho salmon on the Elwha River will be open for a limited time during fall 2024.

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To Stay Within ESA Harvest Constraints, Columbia River Spring Chinook Fishing Closed Until At Least Mid-May Run Update; Low Idaho Return Expected

May 3rd, 2024

With the fishery expected to have already met its allowable catch, recreational spring Chinook fishing on the Columbia River mainstem from Bonneville Dam to the Oregon/Washington border was closed Tuesday, April 30, by fishery managers from Washington and Oregon.

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Status Report: Though Some SW Washington Steelhead, Salmon Populations Under ESA Show Improved Numbers Since Listing, None Anywhere Near Recovery

April 18th, 2024

The status of southwest Washington salmon and steelhead listed under the federal Endangered Species Act is generally stable, although none of these fish populations are close to meeting recovery goals, says a recent report by the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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Though Angler Effort High, With Low Catch Rates And Late Arriving Run, Lower Columbia River Spring Chinook Fishing Extended

April 5th, 2024

Due to a lateness of the run of spring Chinook salmon and lower than expected harvest, Oregon and Washington extended recreational angling for the fish through Tuesday, April 9. The angling period set by the two-state Columbia River Compact in February began March 1 and was due to end today, Friday, April 5.

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NOAA Releases Status Review For Oregon Coast/Northern California Chinook, Low To Moderate Risk Of Extinction; Listing Decision Coming

April 5th, 2024

NOAA Fisheries is nearing a determination of whether the Oregon Coast (OC) and Southern Oregon/Northern California Coastal (SONCC) Chinook salmon should be listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, saying the final determination is expected this spring.

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Snake River Wild Steelhead: Potlatch River Long-Term Steelhead Restoration Plan Improves Juvenile Numbers But Declines In Adult Fish Continue

February 16th, 2024

An important population of listed steelhead in Idaho’s Snake River basin has been getting the help it needs to boost its numbers – removal of barriers, increasing habitat complexity, fewer scouring spring flows and higher and more consistent summer streamflows.

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Harvest Managers Predict 2024 Upriver Spring Chinook Return To Columbia River 15 percent Smaller Than 2023; Expect Drop In Wild Fish To Snake River

February 9th, 2024

Fisheries biologists are predicting that a smaller run of upriver spring Chinook salmon will return this year to the Columbia River than had returned last year, and that fewer of those fish will be of natural origin, continuing a years’ long trend, according to a report released last week by Oregon and Washington fish and wildlife agencies.

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Harvest Managers Approve Commercial Research Gillnetting for ESA-Listed Columbia River Smelt; If Numbers Good, Recreational Dip-Netting To Follow

February 2nd, 2024

With another good run of ESA-listed smelt expected this year into the Columbia River and a few lower river tributaries, the two-state Columbia River Compact approved this week commercial research gillnetting for the small fish through mid-March.

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Early Columbia River 2024 Salmon Forecasts Show Spring Chinook Lower Than Last Year, Sockeye May See Large Increase

December 13th, 2023

The early run size forecast for spring Chinook salmon next year into the Columbia River basin is slightly lower than the 2023 actual return of the spring fish and much lower than last year’s early run size forecast.

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Oregon’s Clackamas River Seeing Impressive Return Of Coho, Wild Spring Chinook, Utility Cites Modernized Fish Passage Systems At Dams

December 13th, 2023

More than 17,000 adult coho salmon and nearly 5,000 wild spring Chinook salmon returned to Portland General Electric’s North Fork Dam on the Clackamas River this fall, according to the utility.

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With A Continued Strong Fall Chinook Run (Above 10-Year Average), States Extend Recreational Fishing Below Bonneville, Add Gillnetting Days

September 22nd, 2023

With a higher in-season forecast of Chinook salmon tracking above the 5- and 10-year average, Oregon and Washington reopened all the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam to recreational angling for Chinook and hatchery coho as of Sept. 22. The reopening is for the remainder of this year.

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Draft 2023 Survival Study Says Substantial Gains In Adult Returns Of Imperiled  Salmon, Steelhead Will Require Breaching Lower Snake River Dams

September 15th, 2023

A long-running annual report that evaluates salmon and steelhead survival in the Columbia and Snake rivers again this year concluded that removal of the lower Snake River dams poses less of a risk to recovery than allowing the four dams to remain in place.

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Snake River Sockeye Run Winding Down As Fish Head To Stanley Basin; Conversion Rate From Bonneville Dam To Lower Granite Low

August 10th, 2023

This year’s Columbia River sockeye salmon passage is mostly over at Bonneville Dam. Mid-Columbia River sockeye are now moving into tributaries and lakes, while the endangered Snake River sockeye are migrating towards the Stanley Basin in central Idaho, according to Jonathan Ebel of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

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States Issue Status Report For Upcoming Columbia River Salmon, Steelhead Fall Fisheries; Coho Forecasted Returns High, Steelhead Numbers Dismal

July 13th, 2023

The Oregon and Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife have issued their annual joint report describing upcoming fall fisheries in the mainstem Columbia River. It includes a review of those fisheries that occurred in 2022 and expectations for 2023 fall fish runs.

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With Summer Chinook Returns Running Way Below Forecasted, Another Columbia River Fishing Season Shuts Down Early

June 29th, 2023

With a lower-than-expected return of summer Chinook to the Columbia River, Washington and Oregon will close the river downstream of Priest Rapids Dam to recreational angling for the fish July 1, bringing the summer season that began June 15 --and was to go to July 31 -- to an abrupt end.

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With ESA Impact Exceeded, Harvest Managers Forced To Shut Down Columbia River Salmon, Steelhead Fishing

June 1st, 2023

After catch data analysis showed allowable harvest impacts to wild spring chinook have been exceeded, Oregon and Washington fisheries managers on extremely short notice shut down salmon and steelhead fishing on the Columbia River.

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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.

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Columbia River Basin Upriver Summer Steelhead Return Forecasted To Be Far Below Past Years; Angling Restrictions, Closures Likely

April 27th, 2023

The number of upriver summer steelhead forecasted to return to the Columbia River basin has been declining, year after year. This year’s return of the fish is anticipated to be the lowest count of both hatchery and wild steelhead since the construction of Bonneville Dam -- at only 42 percent of the 10-year average.

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With End Of La Nina, Ocean Conditions Likely Trending Downward For Salmon, Steelhead Survival, Mass Of Warm Water In North Pacific

March 16th, 2023

Good years in the Pacific Ocean for salmon and steelhead, as the last couple of years have been, are an anomaly. Instead, ocean conditions are generally trending downward, according to a NOAA Fisheries scientist briefing the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

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States Approve Recreational Fishing Dates For Expected Decent Spring Chinook Return; Concerns Expressed About Impacts Of Too Much Early Fishing

February 26th, 2023

With a higher than average number of spring Chinook salmon forecasted to return to the Columbia River and pass Bonneville Dam this year, Oregon and Washington approved start and ending dates for recreational fishing in the river.

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NOAA Fisheries To Conduct Status Review Of Olympic Peninsula Wild Steelhead To Determine If ESA Listing Warranted

February 17th, 2023

NOAA Fisheries says it will consider listing Olympic Peninsula summer and winter steelhead threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. All populations of steelhead on the peninsula have continued to decline since 2017.

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Fishery Managers Expecting Over 300,000 Spring Chinook To Enter Columbia River This Year, 90 Percent Hatchery Fish

February 2nd, 2023

Columbia River fishery managers are expecting a larger run of upriver spring Chinook salmon to enter the river this year and cross Bonneville Dam, but barely 10 percent of the salmon would be of natural origin, according to a recently released joint Oregon and Washington report that includes preseason run size forecasts. That compares to actual returns in 2022 when 15.5 percent of the upriver run was of natural origin.

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WDFW Seeks Comment On Draft Update To Columbia River (ESA-Listed) Smelt Management Plan; Aim Is Sustainable Harvest

February 2nd, 2023

A draft plan for managing Columbia River threatened smelt (eulachon) is out for review by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Among the plan’s features is a transparent approach to evaluating when and if commercial and recreational fisheries can be adopted.

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Washington State of Salmon Report: ‘Too Many Salmon Remain On Brink Of Extinction, Time Running Out’

January 13th, 2023

Of the seven species of salmon and steelhead that inhabit Washington state’s waters -- and are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act as at risk of extinction-- Hood Canal summer chum salmon and Snake River fall Chinook salmon are approaching their recovery goals, according to a biennial report soon to be released by the Washington Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office.

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Successful Salmon Reintroduction: Sockeye Salmon Repopulating Okanagan Basin In Big Numbers

December 16th, 2022

By anyone’s measure, sockeye salmon runs have skyrocketed since 1997 in the Okanogan River basin when a transboundary workgroup decided to begin efforts to reintroduce the fish into Okanogan Lake in British Columbia, according to tribal biologists speaking at this week’s Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting.

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Oregon, Burns Paiute Tribe Sign Agreement To Collaborate On Reintroducing Salmon, Steelhead To Malheur River        

October 20th, 2022

The Burns Paiute Tribe, a federally-recognized Indian tribe, signed an agreement this month with the state of Oregon and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to collaborate on reintroducing salmon and steelhead to the Malheur River, a tributary of the Snake River. Construction of the Hells Canyon dams in 1958 blocked all anadromous fish from the Upper Snake River basin and Malheur River system.

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WSU Study Shows Drones Found Double The Number Of Potential Redds In Wenatchee River Compared To Ground-Level Observations

October 20th, 2022

Struggling salmon populations could get some help from the sky. A Washington State University study showed that drone photography of the Wenatchee River during spawning season can be effective in estimating the number of rocky hollows salmon create to lay their eggs, also called “redds.” 

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Groups Petition NOAA Fisheries To List Washington’s Olympic Peninsula Steelhead Under ESA; Dramatic Declines Since 1980s

September 29th, 2022

NOAA Fisheries is nearing a deadline in determining whether it should consider listing as threatened or endangered Olympic Peninsula summer and winter steelhead. All populations of steelhead on the peninsula have continued to decline since 2017 and run sizes have been so small that Washington closed fisheries on coastal rivers early this year, according to a recent petition to list the steelhead.

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More Recreational Fishing Opens Up On Lower Columbia, Including Hatchery Coho Angling At Buoy 10

September 14th, 2022

After an abrupt closure of the lower Columbia River to recreational angling on Sept. 2 just prior to Labor Day weekend, Oregon and Washington fishery managers this week are reopening two sections of the river to salmon fishing.

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Angling Closes For John Day River Steelhead Due To Low Wild Fish Return; Chinook, Coho Return To Date Not As Grim

September 8th, 2022

Angling for steelhead in central Oregon’s John Day River will close next week because the minimum abundance threshold for wild steelhead has not been met at Bonneville Dam. The count so far this summer is 25 percent short of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s abundance goal that would have allowed the John Day to remain open.

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Salmon, Steelhead Reintroduction In Blocked Areas Above Deschutes River Dams See Best Spring Chinook Return Yet

August 4th, 2022

Spring Chinook salmon are still arriving at the Pelton-Round Butte Complex of dams on Central Oregon’s Deschutes River where they are trapped and hauled upstream to Lake Billy Chinook. And so far partners Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs are seeing the best annual return of the fish since they began their efforts to reintroduce Chinook, sockeye and summer steelhead above the dams 13 years ago.

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Snake River Sockeye Now Showing Up In Stanley Basin, 66 Percent That Passed Bonneville Dam Made It To Lower Granite Dam

August 4th, 2022

The first two sockeye salmon to arrive in the Sawtooth Basin near Stanley, Idaho, were trapped July 28 by Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists and some 2,066 of the Snake River run of sockeye have passed Lower Granite Dam, 30 miles downstream of Lewiston, ID.

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Beat The Heat: Nearly 2,000 Snake River Sockeye Slip Past Reservoirs Into Salmon River Before High Temps Hit

July 28th, 2022

The majority of the run of Snake River sockeye salmon, a small segment of the largest Columbia River sockeye run since Bonneville Dam was built in 1938 (most return to the upper Columbia), have passed eight Columbia and Snake river dams and are now moving up the Salmon River.

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Columbia River Fish Returns 2021-2022 By The Numbers; Mixed Bag, Millions Of Shad Filling Fish Ladders Once Again

July 21st, 2022

Salmon and steelhead returns to the Columbia River this year have been mixed, but still are expected to be generally higher than they were in 2021. Upriver spring Chinook, summer Chinook, coho and sockeye salmon, shad and summer steelhead returns are all higher this year, according to two Columbia River Compact staff reports released this year. The exception is fall Chinook salmon, which is forecasted to have a similar run as last year’s dismal 66 percent of the 10-year average.

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Extinction Risk For World’s Only Winter-Run Chinook: Eggs Moved To Cold Water Above Shasta Reservoir, Could Inform Reintroduction Above Dams

July 20th, 2022

The Winnemem Wintu Tribe, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week celebrated the return of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon eggs to the McCloud River upstream of Shasta Reservoir for the first time since the construction of the Shasta Dam in the 1940s.

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Biggest Columbia River Sockeye Return Since 1938, Decent Passage At Lower Granite; With Updated Forecast, Chinook Fishing Extended

July 14th, 2022

With an uptick in the run-size forecast for summer Chinook salmon, Columbia River fisheries managers this week extended angling in the river through the end of the month. Fishing in the lower river downstream of Bonneville Dam to the Astoria Megler Bridge in Astoria was set to end July 14, but the extension allows angling in that area to continue uninterrupted through July 31. Fall Chinook fishing begins the next day, Aug. 1.

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With Higher Than Expected Upper Columbia Sockeye Return, Decent Summer Chinook Run, Fishery Managers Add More Fishing Days

July 1st, 2022

Columbia River fishery managers from Oregon and Washington added 13 days of summer Chinook fishing below Bonneville Dam starting today, July 1 through Wednesday, July 13. The move comes as the sockeye return is now predicted to be more than double the preseason forecast.

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Spring Chinook Return Keeps Getter Better, Prompting Increased Bag Limits, Recreational Fishing Days; Tribes’ June Fishing Periods Approved

June 3rd, 2022

Following another run upgrade, fishery managers from Oregon and Washington adopted additional fishing opportunity for spring Chinook salmon in the mainstem Columbia River from the Tongue Point area near Astoria to the Oregon/Washington state line upstream of McNary Dam and increased the bag limit for Chinook to up to two adults per day.

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Another Spring Chinook Run Upgrade Brings 11 More Recreational Fishing Days, Commercial Tangle-Net Fishery

May 19th, 2022

With a second upgrade of returning upriver Columbia River spring chinook in hand, Washington and Oregon fisheries managers opened up more mainstem recreational fishing and approved a one-day mainstem commercial tangle net fishery.

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Columbia River Spring Chinook Run Upgrade Brings More Fishing Days Below Bonneville Dam; States Announce Summer, Fall Salmon, Steelhead Seasons

May 12th, 2022

With a decent run-size upgrade, should Columbia River fisheries managers allow spring Chinook fishing below Bonneville Dam through May, or let more fish pass upriver and then continue fishing in June when much of run has moved out of the lower Columbia?

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Tribes Did The “Heavy Lifting’ On Bringing Once Extinct Coho Back To Upper Columbia, Snake River Basin

May 12th, 2022

Historically about one million coho salmon returned annually to the Columbia River and were abundant throughout the upper Columbia River and Snake River watersheds. By the 1980s, the fish were gone from the basin interior  – extirpated. But today, in several rivers above Bonneville Dam, the coho are back.

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2021 Spawning Survey: White Salmon River Fall Chinook Still Prefer Lower Three Miles Post-Dam Removal

May 5th, 2022

Condit Dam was removed from the White Salmon River in 2011, opening up 33 miles of new habitat for salmon and steelhead. A 2021 salmon spawning survey is offering a snapshot of recolonization post-dam removal for Chinook salmon.

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Spring Chinook Return Running Above Average As Lower Monumental Dam Fish Passage Monitored During Repairs

May 5th, 2022

The spring Chinook return to the Columbia River basin is heating up as fisheries and hydro managers monitor juvenile and adult salmon passage carefully at Lower Monumental Dam while spillbay repair work continues. And good angling has led to the recreational fishery closing a day early, though fish passage counts at Bonneville Dam are currently above average.

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Elwha River Fishing Closure Extended; Need More Salmon, Steelhead To Move Into Habitat Above Removed Dams

May 5th, 2022

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Olympic National Park and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced an extension to the recreational and commercial fishing closure for the Elwha River and its tributaries through June 30, 2023.

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Study Offers First Direct Evidence That Translocating Imperiled Pacific Lamprey From Lower Columbia To Interior Increased Productivity

April 27th, 2022

A new study provides the first direct evidence that translocations of Pacific Lamprey from lower Columbia River dams to the Snake River basin boosted larval abundance, increased juvenile production in the interior Columbia River and demonstrated successful migration to the Pacific Ocean.

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Fisheries Managers Rescind Lower Columbia Gillnetting Periods After Too Many Upriver Chinook Caught In Select Areas

April 21st, 2022

Oregon and Washington fisheries managers were forced to shut down commercial salmon fishing on the lower Columbia River Wednesday after the gillnetters caught far too many upriver spring Chinook. Several future fishing periods already approved were rescinded during a period of high prices for salmon.

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Oregon Coast Steelhead Returns Showing Better Numbers Than Washington; Oregon Looking For Public Input On Columbia River Steelhead Management

March 31st, 2022

Seeing a steady decline in wild winter steelhead numbers and an expected 2022 return to Washington coastal streams that could be the smallest run of wild steelhead on record, the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission closed all sport fishing on the coast and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca March 1.

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A Late, Large Run Of ESA-Listed Smelt Entering Columbia River, Highest Return In 7 years; Cowlitz Recreational Dip Net Fishing Opens

March 3rd, 2022

With an apparently late and larger-than-predicted run of eulachon (smelt) migrating into the Columbia River, Oregon and Washington harvest managers set this week additional commercial test fishery harvest days through March 18, while Washington opened a recreational dip net fishery for smelt in the Cowlitz River. The Sandy River remains closed to recreational fishing for smelt.

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States Approve First Spring Chinook Fishing Of The Year; Set Gillnetting Days For Hatchery Fish In Off-Channel Areas

February 17th, 2022

Oregon and Washington approved the first of the year spring chinook commercial gillnetting in the lower Columbia River during a two-state Columbia River Compact hearing Tuesday, Feb. 15. Commercial fishing in lower river Select Areas begin as soon as this week.

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Early 2022 Run Size Forecasts For Columbia River Salmon; Nice Spring Chinook Boost, Little Change For Sockeye, Summer Chinook

February 3rd, 2022

The forecasted return of upriver Columbia River spring chinook salmon in 2022 is 25 percent higher than the actual return of the fish last year, good news for both recovery of the species and for recreational, commercial and tribal fishers.

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Annual Salmon Survival Report Says Breaching, More Spill Necessary To Improve Snake River Salmon/Steelhead Smolt-To-Adult Returns

February 3rd, 2022

An annual salmon survival study by the Fish Passage Center says increasing smolt-to-adult returns to recovery levels for Snake River salmon and steelhead will require breaching the Lower Snake River dams and increasing spill at lower Columbia River dams.

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Report Alleges Alaska Fisheries Taking Too Many Canadian Salmon As B.C. Runs Hit Record Lows; ADFG Calls It ‘Biased Hit Piece’

January 27th, 2022

As salmon runs in British Columbia hit record lows, commercial fisheries along the Alaska panhandle are catching a growing share of salmon bound for B.C. rivers, alleges a new technical report issued by Canadian conservation groups

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Booming Bristol Bay Sockeye Run Expected For 2022, 44 Percent Above Average; EPA Acts On Clean Water Act (Pebble Mine) Protections

December 22nd, 2021

A total of 75.27 million sockeye salmon (within a range of 61.01–89.54 million) are expected to return to Alaska’s Bristol Bay in 2022, which is a 44% larger run than the most recent 10-year average of Bristol Bay total runs (52.09 million) and 111% greater than the long-term (1963–2021) average of 35.73 million fish.

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Wild Coho Run Hits Record Numbers On Clackamas River; Passage Over Willamette Falls Far Above Average

November 11th, 2021

Coho salmon are returning to Oregon’s Clackamas River in numbers not seen since 1958 when Portland General Electric’s North Fork Dam was built on the river. With 9,370 early- and late-run fish this year, coho return numbers are far outpacing last year’s run, which tallied just 3,782 of the fish.

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Like Columbia River, Washington Coast Sees Worst Steelhead Returns Ever, Likely To Get Worse; WDFW Mulls Angling Restrictions

November 4th, 2021

After a year with the worst return of steelhead to Washington’s coastal streams, the state’s fishery agency is saying the run is in decline and will likely get worse until ocean conditions improve.

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Condit Dam Removed 10 Years Ago: Some Salmon/Steelhead Moving Above Dam Site, Most Spawning Remains In Lower River Miles

October 28th, 2021

This week marked the 10th anniversary of the removal of the 125-foot high Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in southern Washington. As anticipated, after 10 years as a free-flowing river, salmon and steelhead are returning to the White Salmon, but perhaps not yet in the numbers that meet the stream’s potential.

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2021 Wrap Up: Low Fall Chinook, Sockeye, Spring Chinook, Steelhead Returns To Columbia River, Record-Breaking Coho Run

October 21st, 2021

In-season management of Columbia River fisheries came to an end this week as Oregon and Washington held this year’s final two-state Columbia River Compact hearing after a spring, summer and fall of mixed salmon and steelhead returns.

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Once Extinct, Now Re-Introduced Coho Passing Lower Granite Dam In Big Numbers; Fishing Opened On Grande Ronde, Clearwater, Snake

October 14th, 2021

Once extirpated in much of the Snake River basin, coho salmon are making a big return this year to basin tributaries, allowing Idaho and Oregon to open rivers to coho angling. Both states announced this month the opening of coho angling in the Grande Ronde and Clearwater rivers.

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Another Year Of Low Numbers Of Idaho Steelhead Passing Lower Granite Prompts Harvest Restrictions; Clearwater Wild Spawners Expected To Be About 2,500 Fish

October 14th, 2021

With a run of steelhead into Idaho that is one-third of the 10-year average and the third worst run in the last ten years, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is dialing back the number of fish that recreational anglers can retain to one per day and three in possession.

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With Few Snake River Sockeye Making It To Sawtooth Basin, Endangered Fish Hang On With Captive Breeding, Outplanting Adults Into Lakes

September 30th, 2021

So far just 42 sockeye salmon completed the 900-mile swim through eight dams from the Pacific Ocean to Idaho’s Sawtooth Basin, an even lower return of the endangered fish to the basin than in 2015 when warm water in the Columbia and Snake rivers killed 90 percent of the run before they arrived at Ice Harbor Dam.

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Fish Returns

Harvest Managers Get Upgraded Run Forecasts, Passage Numbers, Catch And Effort Stats; B-Index Steelhead Prospects Improve, Coho Reduced

September 23rd, 2021

The number of B-Index summer steelhead forecasted to cross Bonneville Dam this year more than doubled this week to 10,100 fish, with some 1,700 of those fish unclipped (most are considered wild and listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act), also more than double the preseason forecast.

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Yakama Nation’s Translocation Of Pacific Lamprey From Bonneville Dam, Along With Hatchery Outplantings, Showing Results In Yakima River Basin

September 16th, 2021

The abundance in the Columbia River basin of a fish species rich in nutrients that provides a source of food for numerous riverine birds and animals, as well as Native Americans, has been in decline over the past 20 years, according to a presentation this week at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee meeting.

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Grim Returns Prompt WDFW To Issue Steelhead Fishing Restrictions On Snake River, Tributaries; ‘Numbers Below What Anyone Expected’

September 2nd, 2021

Amid concern about record low numbers of steelhead moving up the Columbia River so far this year, state fishery managers from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have announced new restrictions on steelhead fishing in the Snake River, as well as several Snake and Columbia River tributaries.

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State Fish/Wildlife Commissions Briefed On In-Season Efforts To Protect ESA-Listed Steelhead During Historically Low Return

September 2nd, 2021

Oregon and Washington fish and wildlife staffs say there is little more that can be done to protect the dismally small number of upriver summer steelhead migrating this year in the Columbia River basin short of shutting down all non-tribal fishing, and even that “would not move the needle,” one staff member said.

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Due To Impacts To An ESA-Listed Stock, Harvest Managers Close Buoy 10 Fishery To Chinook Retention; Coho Fishing Continues

August 26th, 2021

Due to higher-than-expected catch rates and unexpected impacts to a salmon stock listed under the Endangered Species Act, Chinook salmon retention on the Columbia River from the Buoy 10 line upstream to the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line will close effective Friday, Aug. 27.

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More Bad News For Columbia River Basin Steelhead; A-Run Forecast Plummets 60 Percent, Worst On Record

August 19th, 2021

A 60 percent drop in the forecasted run of summer steelhead over Bonneville Dam is adding to the already bad news for Columbia and Snake river steelhead returns this year, which is seeing its worst year since Bonneville Dam was built.

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Warm Water Hitting Columbia/Snake River Sockeye With Increased Disease, Slower Migration, Higher Mortality; 626 Fish To Lower Granite Dam

August 12th, 2021

Nearing the end of the 2021 sockeye salmon migration in the Snake River basin, river managers and the state of Idaho have adopted a hybrid approach to ensure as many of the endangered adult migrants complete their long journey up the Salmon River and into the Stanley Basin.

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Steelhead Passage Through Warm River Perilously Low, 20 Percent Of Average At Bonneville Dam; Groups Urge Action To Aid Fish

August 12th, 2021

An informal coalition of fisheries-focused conservation groups is urging the fish and wildlife commissions in Oregon and Washington to step up to save summer steelhead in a year when their returns are at the lowest numbers since Bonneville Dam was built and in a year when water temperatures threaten their migration.

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Amidst Bad Steelhead Returns, Hot River, Harvest Managers Approve Fall Columbia River Fishing Seasons; Recreational Aug.1, Gillnet Days

July 29th, 2021

As the Columbia River at Bonneville Dam warms to over 71 degrees Fahrenheit and with expectations of the second lowest steelhead run since Bonneville Dam was built, recreational angling for fall chinook, the largest remaining run of chinook salmon on the Columbia River, begins August 1.

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Deschutes River Fisheries Workshop Shows The Details, Difficulties, Needed Flexibility Of Long-Term Salmon/Steelhead Reintroduction

July 29th, 2021

Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, co-owners of the Pelton-Round Butte Complex of dams on central Oregon’s Deschutes River, have worked as partners to reintroduce salmon and steelhead upstream of their dams since 2011, with varying degrees of success.

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Harvest Managers’ Mid-Season Forecasts Downgrade Summer Chinook, Sockeye Returns; Steelhead Counts Running At Low Numbers

July 8th, 2021

Run size forecasts for summer chinook and sockeye salmon were both downgraded by an advisory committee that predicts preseason run sizes and adjusts those forecasts, if necessary, during mid-season. In addition, the run size of Skamania steelhead came in as the lowest on record and the run of A- and B-Index steelhead heading to the Snake River so far is at its second lowest run in10 years.

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Plan To Remove Four Klamath River Dams Takes Another Step; Would Open Up Over 200 Miles Of Habitat For Chinook, Coho Salmon

June 24th, 2021

The federal agency that oversees dams in the U.S. has approved the transfer of the hydroelectric license for four Klamath River dams from PacifiCorp, a Portland-based utility owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy, to a nonprofit set up solely for the purpose of removing the dams.

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Climate Change

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: Margin Of Error -With A Warming Columbia River Basin No Time Left To Dawdle Over Recovering ESA-Listed, Naturally-Producing Salmon, Steelhead

June 17th, 2021

Smolt-To-Adult returns. SARs. The BENCHMARK of Columbia/Snake River basin salmon and steelhead recovery. And in recent years the SARs benchmark – tagged, tracked fish-- is screaming bad news for Snake River salmon and steelhead. Bringing these fish back from the brink as the regional climate warms requires urgency.

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Report To FERC Details Deschutes River Salmon/Steelhead Reintroduction Progress Above Dam

June 17th, 2021

Since at least 2011, biologists have trapped chinook and sockeye salmon and summer steelhead at Pelton Dam on the Deschutes River and transported the fish upstream to Lake Billy Chinook for spawning in an effort to reintroduce the fish upstream of the dam.

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Columbia River Salmon Fishing Transitioning From Spring To Summer Chinook; Idaho Sees Improved Wild Steelhead Numbers In Some Waters

June 11th, 2021

Spring chinook salmon fishing is nearly over and summer chinook fishing begins next week. Although it may be difficult to see much of a difference between a spring and a summer chinook at Bonneville Dam, June 16 is the transition date on which all chinook that pass the dam become summer chinook.

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A Million Chum Salmon Once Returned To Columbia River, Now Down To 20,000; WDFW Recovery Plan Aims To ‘Jump Start’ Population Rebuilding

June 10th, 2021

Chum salmon, now listed as threatened, once returned to the Columbia River in huge numbers, with half a million to a million fish every year spawning in tributaries from near the river’s mouth and as far up the river as Celilo Falls, which was inundated when The Dalles Dam was built just downstream.

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Post Dam Removal: Though Spring Chinook Spawning Above Old Condit Dam Site, Fall Chinook Still Prefer Lower River Miles

June 3rd, 2021

Tule and bright fall chinook salmon in 2020 spawned in large numbers downstream of the site where PacifiCorp’s Condit Dam stood on the White Salmon River. But after nearly 10 years since the dam was breached, none spawned upstream of the old dam site, according to the preliminary findings in a recent report by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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States Add More Spring Chinook Fishing For Memorial Day Weekend As Most Fish Have Moved Upstream Of Bonneville Dam

May 27th, 2021

Oregon and Washington fisheries managers are adding one more day of hatchery spring chinook angling downstream of Bonneville Dam and two days upstream of the dam to the states’ border, all over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

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With Updated, Higher Spring Chinook Run Size Forecast, 18 More Fishing Days In Lower River; Skamania Steelhead Return Lowest On Record

May 20th, 2021

Even with a Skamania hatchery steelhead return at its lowest since Bonneville Dam was built and Cowlitz River hatchery spring chinook salmon unlikely to meet broodstock needs, the two state Columbia River Compact this week extended retention of hatchery spring chinook from Tongue Point in Astoria to the Oregon and Washington border.

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Return Of Columbia River Basin Pacific Lamprey: Tribes’ Restoration Plan Focuses On Hatchery, Translocation, Genetics

May 14th, 2021

With declining returns of Pacific lamprey to the Columbia River basin, tribes are turning to artificial propagation, supplementation and translocation to boost lamprey numbers and move the fish back into historic spawning grounds.

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‘Returns Alarmingly Low’: Low Wild Spring Chinook Numbers Lead To Less Hood River Fishing, Shutdown In Deschutes

April 15th, 2021

A poor spring chinook run is impacting angling opportunities in two Oregon rivers. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife set regulations for fishing in the Hood and Deschutes rivers, reducing the bag limit in one river and closing the other due to an extreme low run of wild fish.

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Fish Returns

Good Spring Chinook Fishing In Lower Columbia Has Anglers Reaching Quota: No More LR Recreational Salmon Fishing Until May Run-Size Update

April 9th, 2021

Passage of spring chinook at Bonneville Dam is less than 40 percent of the10-year average, yet anglers in the river downstream of the dam had already harvested about 90 percent of their allowed catch of the upriver run of the fish by the end of the early spring fishing period.

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Alternatives Developed For Salmon Fisheries Off Northwest Coast; Protects Low Abundance Wild Coastal Coho While Allowing Access To Big Columbia River Coho Run

March 18th, 2021

The Pacific Fishery Management Council has adopted three alternatives for 2021 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California for public review. Options for Washington's ocean salmon fisheries reflect the need to minimize impacts to low forecasted abundances of coastal coho stocks while providing opportunities to access the large forecast for Columbia River coho.

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This Year’s Salmon/Steelhead Forecasts: Slight Improvement For Some Runs, But Another Tough Year For Idaho Fish, Upper Columbia Springers

March 11th, 2021

In a lackluster year of generally lower than average forecasted salmon and steelhead runs, fishery managers see some hope as chinook salmon runs slowly rise out of a low-return “trough,” the coho salmon forecast is sky high and, even with low expectations for summer steelhead and a calamitous drop in wild B-run summer steelhead, some angling will likely be allowed in Idaho.

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Here Come The Columbia River Fish: With Forecasts In Hand, Managers Prepare To Set Offshore Harvest Rules; 1.6 Million Coho, 580,800 Fall Chinook

March 5th, 2021

Washington state is beginning a process with a series of public meetings that will determine by May the allowed harvest of a limited number of fall chinook, coho, chum and pink salmon in offshore areas north of Cape Falcon in Oregon, up the state’s coastline and in Puget Sound.

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States Approve Early Start To Spring Chinook Fishing; Tribes, Idaho Concerned About Impacts On Upriver Catch, Broodstock Goals

February 26th, 2021

Oregon and Washington this week opened spring chinook salmon angling from Buoy 10 to the Oregon/Washington border in March. The opening in the lower river is the first time since 2018 that anglers will be allowed to pursue the prized fish early in the season from Buoy 10 to the Lewis River in Washington.

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68 Fisheries Scientists Sign Letter Detailing Why They Think Lower Snake Dam Removal Only Hope For Snake River Salmon, Steelhead Recovery

February 26th, 2021

A letter signed by 68 salmon and fisheries scientists summarizes actions they say are necessary to protect and restore abundant salmon and steelhead runs to the Columbia/Snake river basin. The letter is “intended to help inform regional and national leaders on the policies and actions necessary to restore to a healthy abundance salmon currently listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.”

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ESA-Listed Smelt Return To Columbia River Expected To Be Moderate Size; States Set Commercial Test Fishery

January 29th, 2021

As they do every year from December through May, threatened eulachon (smelt) are returning from the Pacific Ocean and flooding into the lower Columbia River. The smelt – a 7 in., 2.5 oz. fish – may already be moving into their favorite spawning tributaries, the Cowlitz River in Washington and the Sandy River in Oregon, where their numbers peak in February.

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GUEST COLUMN: Reflections, Perspectives On Idaho Salmon Workgroup Recommendations

January 29th, 2021

The robust fishery science literature— beginning with the “Plan for Analyzing and Testing Hypothesis” (Marmorek et al.1998) in the 1990s and continuing to the 2020 report “Achieving Productivity to Recover and Restore Columbia River Stream-type Chinook Salmon (Petrosky et al. 2020)—documents the necessity to achieve an average 4% smolt-to-adult return (SAR) survival in order to recover Snake River (Idaho) salmon and steelhead.

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Washington State Salmon Recovery Report: Most Populations Not Making Progress, Some On Path To Extinction

January 15th, 2021

A new report from Washington State’s Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office shows that most salmon populations in the state still are not making progress and some are teetering on the brink of extinction.

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Another Low Upriver Spring Chinook Run Forecasted For 2021, Snake River Sockeye Projected At Only 700 Fish; Better News Downstream Bonneville Dam

January 8th, 2021

The 2021 upriver spring chinook run, if the fish come in as forecasted, would fall into the bottom 25 percent of runs in the last 40 years, according to a preseason forecast by fisheries managers.

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Annual Flow Operations To Protect ESA-Listed Chum Salmon Underway; Last Salmon To Return, First To Leave

December 17th, 2020

River operators are holding the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam to 11.5 to 13 feet above sea level, a tailwater depth at the dam designed to ensure chum salmon can spawn and that their redds (nests) will remain underwater near Ives and Pierce islands.

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Permanent Fishway To Be Built To Support Fraser River Salmon Passage At Landslide Site

December 17th, 2020

On June 23, 2019, a large landslide at Big Bar blocked a remote section of British Columbia’s Fraser River, one of the great salmon rivers in the world. Enough debris fell into the river to fill 45 Olympic-sized swimming pools, blocking fish passage.

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Coho Reintroduction Boosted By Record Numbers Headed For Oregon’s Grande Ronde, Lostine River; Supports Tribal, Sport Fisheries

November 20th, 2020

Coho salmon are returning to northeast Oregon’s Lostine River in record numbers almost five decades after they disappeared from the same basin. Once again the coho are supporting tribal harvest and a new Oregon recreational fishery.

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GUEST COLUMN: A-Run Steelhead, B-Run Steelhead, What Do Those Terms Mean?

November 20th, 2020

Anglers fishing for steelhead in the Snake River basin, particularly the Clearwater River, often hear the terms A-run, B-run or A-Index, B-Index steelhead but what exactly do those terms mean? The terms A and B are unique to steelhead management in the Columbia and Snake river basins and does not classify specific populations.

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Science Panel Would Like To See Fish Passage Center’s Annual Salmon Survival Report Include ‘Impact Report’ Communicating Key Messages

November 12th, 2020

The Fish Passage Center’s annual Comparative Survival Study, providing smolt-to-adult return data and analysis for Columbia/Snake River salmon and steelhead for 25 years, should include an “impact report” to communicate “the most critical take-home messages” for policymakers.

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Wild Upper Columbia Spring Chinook Long Way From Recovery, Less Than 1 Percent Return To Spawning Grounds

October 30th, 2020

Wild Upper Columbia spring chinook are “pretty far from de-listing,” said Dan Rawding, Columbia River Salmon Recovery Coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in a presentation at this month’s Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting.

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Fish Return Estimates Rise Again, Bringing Two More Mainstem Gillnet Evenings, 10 Tangle Net Fishing Periods

September 24th, 2020

Estimates of the number of fall chinook salmon, coho salmon and B-Index steelhead entering the Columbia River rose again this week, but, with the exception of the B-Index steelhead and early-stock coho, abundances are still expected to fall short of 10-year averages.

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Columbia River Fall Chinook Return Upgraded By 13 Percent, Leading To More Fishing; Coho Return To Idaho Stronger Than Expected

September 17th, 2020

With an in-season forecast this week increasing the Columbia River fall chinook salmon run by 13 percent, Oregon and Washington are opening fall chinook angling Saturday, Sept. 19, one week earlier than preseason fishery plans.

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With Decent Daily Fall Chinook Passage At Bonneville Dam (17,000 On Sept.8), States Open Another Three Days Of Columbia River Salmon Fishing, Gillnet Days

September 11th, 2020

Although there has been no change in expected returns, passage of fall chinook at Bonneville is sufficient to reopen recreational angling opportunities for the fish from Buoy 10 to the Oregon and Washington border, according to the two-state Columbia River Compact at a hearing Wednesday, Sept. 9.

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States Add Two Days Of Chinook Retention To Provide Weekend Buoy 10 Fishing Before Run-Size Update

September 4th, 2020

Oregon and Washington Columbia River fisheries managers doubled the bag limit for salmon at the popular Buoy 10 fishery from one coho to two salmon, one of which can be a chinook, Sept. 5 and 6, just in time for the Labor Day weekend.

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Idaho Reduces Hatchery Steelhead Bag Limit Due To Low Expected Returns (40 Percent Of Average); So Far At Lower Granite 60 Percent Of Run Wild Fish

August 27th, 2020

With the run of summer steelhead expected to return to the Snake River basin at about 40 percent of the 10-year average, the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Commission at its meeting Thursday, Aug. 20, reduced the number of the fish anglers in the state can keep when fishing the Salmon, Little Salmon and Snake rivers. Steelhead angling opens on those rivers Sept. 1.

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Lamprey Fish Passage Efficiency At Each Columbia/Snake Dam Very Low: Nearly Half Lost (Not Counted) At Each Dam From Bonneville Dam To McNary

August 14th, 2020

A variety of changes at Columbia and Snake river dams to boost passage of Pacific lamprey is resulting in incremental improvements, according to a presentation this week at a Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting.

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Endangered Snake River Sockeye Arriving At Idaho’s Sawtooth Basin, Numbers Better Than Last Year’s Dismal Return

August 6th, 2020

The first two sockeye salmon completed their 900 mile journey through eight Columbia and Snake river dams and up the Salmon River, climbing 6,500 feet in elevation and arriving in Idaho’s Sawtooth Basin over the weekend.

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Decades-Old Snake River Hatcheries Underfunded For Infrastructure Needs; Produce 20 Million Juvenile Salmon/Steelhead Each Year

July 16th, 2020

A five-year plan for non-recurring maintenance needs and infrastructure fixes at aging 35-to-40-year-old Snake River hatcheries shows a budget that is $5 million short, raising the question of who pays, according to managers and operators at the hatcheries who laid out their funding needs at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee meeting Tuesday, July 14.

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With Flow Agreements Protecting Salmon Lifecycle, Hanford Reach Fall Chinook Productivity Over The Years Has Increased 217 Percent

July 16th, 2020

Although the 50-mile long Hanford Reach has long been considered the last free-flowing stretch on the Columbia River above Bonneville Dam, it’s actually tucked into a large and very complex system of hydroelectric dams.

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Summer Chinook Angling Extended On Columbia, Summer Steelhead Fishing Re-Opens With Low Return, High Percentage Wild Fish

July 16th, 2020

Washington and Oregon extended summer chinook angling through the end of July from the Tongue Point-Rocky Point line, near Astoria, upstream to the border between the two states at the Hwy 395 Bridge near Pasco, Wash. The popular Buoy 10 fishing will open August 14.

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With Temperatures Heating Up, Cold Dworshak Dam Water Released To Aid Low Numbers Of Endangered Snake River Sockeye Headed For Idaho

July 9th, 2020

Using cold water from Dworshak Dam, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began this week sending water downstream to cool the tailwater at Lower Granite Dam as an aid to sockeye salmon passage at the dam.

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States Extend Summer Chinook Fishing; Close Shad Fishing In Bonneville Pool To Protect Endangered Sockeye

July 9th, 2020

Oregon and Washington added seven more days – July 9 to July 15 – of recreational angling for hatchery summer chinook on the mainstem Columbia River, but closed shad fishing in the Bonneville Dam pool as a way to protect endangered Snake River sockeye salmon. Shad fishermen have been catching too many of the sockeye incidentally.

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With Higher In-Season Forecast, States Open Columbia River For Summer Chinook Fishing July 4-8; Sockeye, Steelhead Angling Still Closed

July 2nd, 2020

Oregon and Washington are opening a five-day recreational summer chinook angling period on the mainstem Columbia River beginning this weekend after an in-season forecast boosted the anticipated number of chinook entering the river by 58 percent over the preseason forecast.

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With Enough Spring Chinook In Lower Snake Now Passing Little Goose Dam, Idaho Rescinds Spill Change Request

June 12th, 2020

Spring operations at Little Goose Dam on the lower Snake River this last weekend apparently resulted in enough spring chinook passing the dam that Idaho on Monday (June 8) rescinded a request made last week, along with NOAA Fisheries and the Nez Perce Tribe, at the interagency Technical Management Team meeting.

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Uptick In Spring Chinook Forecast, Sockeye Passage To-Date Above Average; Tribes To Begin Commercial Gillnetting Above Bonneville Dam

June 12th, 2020

Columbia River Treaty Tribes will begin commercial gillnetting, along with commercial platform and hook and line fishing, upstream of Bonneville Dam (Zone 6) for summer chinook next week, a plan outlined by the tribes at a two-state Columbia River Compact hearing Monday, June 8. Some platform and hook and line fishing is also planned for downstream of Bonneville.

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Spill For Juvenile Fish Migration At Lower Snake Dams Holding Back Adult Spawners Headed For Idaho; River Managers Discuss Possible Operations Change

June 5th, 2020

A proposal aimed at reducing travel time and passing more adult spring chinook salmon on the lower Snake River at Little Goose Dam was “elevated” to a higher task force for a decision this week at the interagency Technical Management Team meeting Wednesday, June 3.

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Marine Survival Cited As Main Factor For This Year’s Historically Low Spring Chinook Return; ‘Workhorse Hatcheries’ Struggling

June 4th, 2020

An already low in-season forecast for spring chinook salmon was revised this week to 71,600 fish at the Columbia River mouth and only about 70,000 at Bonneville Dam, according to the U.S. v Oregon Technical Advisory Committee, which forecasts runs of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River.

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Worst Spring Chinook Return Since 1999; Fishing Shut Down, Concerns Grow Over Lack Of Broodstock Returns To Basin Hatcheries

May 21st, 2020

After a drop in the spring chinook salmon forecast and dire predictions that some hatcheries won’t make broodstock quotas this year, the two-state Columbia River Compact this week shut down mainstem Columbia River fisheries.

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Forecasted Poor Returns Means No Columbia River Mainstem Summer Chinook Fishing; Sockeye, Fall Chinook, Steelhead Fishing Likely For Summer, Fall

May 21st, 2020

An anticipated poor summer run of chinook salmon means no summer chinook fishing this year on the Columbia River mainstem, according to Oregon and Washington. The summer season will be limited to only sockeye and steelhead retention.

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Four More Spring Chinook Fishing Days On Columbia; Broodstock Concerns, Close-To-Home Edicts Limit Opportunities; Run So Far One-Third Of Average

May 14th, 2020

After a late start for spring chinook angling on the Columbia River due to Covid-19 closures, Oregon and Washington approved a second four-day fishing period in a hearing Wednesday, May 13.

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Amid COVID-19 Concerns States Open Columbia River To Spring Chinook, Steelhead Fishing; No Strict Guidelines, Use Own Judgement

May 1st, 2020

Oregon and Washington fisheries managers reopened the Columbia River along their border for limited recreational spring chinook and steelhead angling, despite continued concerns about the number of people in boats and at public facilities due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

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‘I Don’t See It Getting Better Any Time Soon’: NOAA Biologist Gives Council Rundown On Ocean Conditions, Impacts To Salmon

April 16th, 2020

A NOAA Fisheries scientist informed the Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week that poor ocean conditions are continuing to contribute to low Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead returns.

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Ocean Salmon Seasons Forwarded To NMFS For Approval, Low Returns Of Key Stocks To Limit Fisheries; Covid-19 Impacts Biggest Unknown

April 16th, 2020

The Pacific Fishery Management Council has adopted ocean salmon season recommendations that provide recreational and commercial opportunities for most of the Pacific coast, and are aimed at achieving conservation goals for the numerous individual salmon stocks on the West Coast.

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Good Columbia River Return For ESA-Listed Smelt This Year; Researchers Learning More On Spawning Activities

March 19th, 2020

Once the run is complete, a biologist with the Washington fishery department said that some 7.5 million pounds of eulachon, also known as Pacific smelt, will have entered the Columbia River. That’s 3 million pounds more than showed up in 2019.

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States Set Columbia River Spring Chinook Seasons; Urged To Restrain Early-Season Fishing In Lower River So More Fish Reach Idaho

February 20th, 2020

Oregon and Washington set recreational spring chinook and winter steelhead fishing seasons in the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam that in April limits the number of days per week anglers will be allowed to fish. And, beginning March 1, angling for salmon and steelhead will not be allowed in the river from Warrior Rock at St. Helens, OR downstream to Buoy 10 to protect hatchery fish returning to Cowlitz and Lewis river hatcheries.

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Harvest Managers Set Commercial Smelt Gillnet (Research) Fishery In Lower Columbia; Approve Treaty Sturgeon Fishing Days

January 30th, 2020

In its first hearing of the year, the two-state Columbia River Compact set a commercial smelt gillnet fishery in the lower Columbia River and approved Treaty commercial and hook and line fishing in areas upstream of Bonneville Dam.

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Vernita Bar Agreement Provides Flow Protections For Spawning Wild Fall Chinook In Hanford Reach; This Season’s 7,733 Redds Within 10-Year Range

January 9th, 2020

Every fall Columbia River dam operators manage river flows through Hanford Reach to provide minimum flow protections for wild fall chinook salmon nests, also known as redds, at Vernita Bar.

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Steelhead Hatchery Broodstock Concerns Prompts Continued Angling Closures; 2019 Return Far Below 10-Year Average

January 3rd, 2020

Oregon and Washington fisheries agencies are continuing their closure of a 17-mile stretch of the mainstem Columbia River upstream of McNary Dam to the state line to steelhead angling and retention through March 31, 2020 due to fears that some hatcheries may not make their steelhead brood stock collection goals. The run of summer steelhead in 2019 is the fifth lowest run size since 1954, when McNary Dam was built near the Oregon town of Umatilla.

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With Northwest Water Supply Improving, River Managers Set Date For Flows To Protect Chum Salmon Nests Below Bonneville Dam

December 18th, 2019

Spawning of threatened Lower Columbia River chum salmon in the Ives/Pierce Island area downstream of Bonneville Dam area on the Columbia River’s north shore is nearing an end, prompting the interagency Technical Management Team this week to set a date to transition to incubation flows designed to protect the chum nests, or redds.

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Lake Roosevelt Lowest Level In 70 Years But Flows For Listed Lower Columbia Chum Salmon Continue; Spawner Numbers Decent So Far

December 5th, 2019

More than 500 threatened chum salmon were counted at the end of November on spawning grounds downstream of Bonneville Dam in the Ives/Pierce island area on the Columbia’s north shore. Although only halfway through the spawning season for these salmon, an anadromous fish expert with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says this year’s tally could end up being higher than the last five-year average.

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For First Time In 20 Years No Steelhead Available For Stocking In Boise River, Trapped Fish Needed For Broodstock

November 27th, 2019

Low steelhead returns mean no steelhead will be released into the Boise River for the first time in more than 20 years. It's an annual event that many anglers look forward to all year, but there aren't enough fish available at the trap in Hells Canyon to do it.

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Council Hears Review Of Report On Salmon Reintroduction Above Grand Coulee: ‘Grand Experiment, No Guarantees’

November 15th, 2019

Two of the scientists who reviewed the phase 1 report that assesses the feasibility of reintroducing salmon and steelhead upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams told the Northwest Power and Conservation Council Wednesday that a cost analysis should be incorporated early in the process and in a stepwise fashion if the effort is to move forward.

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Flows For ESA-Listed Chum Getting To Be Tough Call As Grand Coulee Drains Half-Foot A Day With No Rain In Sight

November 7th, 2019

Although operations at Bonneville Dam that sets a tailwater elevation designed to provide ideal spawning conditions for threatened Columbia River chum salmon downstream of the dam began Monday, few chum have yet to hear the call.

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Science Panel Completes Review Of Report On Feasibility Of Reintroducing Anadromous Salmonids Above Grand Coulee Dam

November 7th, 2019

A panel of scientists completed a review of the Upper Columbia United Tribes’ phase 1 report that describes the feasibility of reintroducing salmon and steelhead into the reaches of the Columbia River upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.

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Middle Fork Salmon River: ‘Shifting Baseline Syndrome’ Skews Wilderness River’s True Abundance Potential For Spring/Summer Chinook

October 31st, 2019

Natural abundance potential of spring/summer chinook salmon in the Middle Fork Salmon River of Idaho recalculated by three biologists is far higher than most current management goals for the fish by NOAA Fisheries, the Nez Perce Tribe and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, according to a recent study.

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Fishery Management Plan For (Once Extinct) Coho, Trout Fishing In Oregon’s Snake River Basin Out For Comment

October 31st, 2019

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has released for public comment a Fishery Management and Evaluation Plan for implementing fisheries targeting once extinct coho salmon and resident trout in Oregon waters of the Snake River Basin.

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Poor Steelhead Returns To Idaho Has River Communities, Outfitters Worried About Economic Future

October 25th, 2019

Roy Akins and Toby Wyatt are Idaho salmon and steelhead outfitters who don’t necessarily favor dam breaching as a means to improve fish runs, but now they are willing to consider it and they are urging Idaho Gov. Brad Little to make breaching part of the discussion.

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Independent Science Panel Reviews Draft Comparative Survival Study For Basin Salmon/Steelhead

October 24th, 2019

In its tenth annual review of the Fish Passage Center’s Comparative Survival Study, a panel of scientists said they are again worried about smolt-to-adult survival for Snake River wild spring chinook and steelhead, which continue to fall short of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s objectives.

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Fall Chinook Return Upgraded; States Approve Four Non-Treaty Gillnetting Periods, But Rescind After High Catch During First Period

October 10th, 2019

Oregon and Washington on Monday approved two lower Columbia River fisheries. One was for four periods (48 hours total) of commercial non-treaty gillnetting and the other for a one-day recreational white sturgeon fishery on Saturday, Oct. 12. But at a Thursday meeting three gillnetting periods were rescinded by the states due to an unexpected high catch rate during the first period.

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States Approve Additional Tribal Gillnetting Days Amidst Worries About Steelhead Numbers, Meeting Broodstock Goals

September 13th, 2019

Oregon and Washington fisheries managers approved an additional two and a half days of tribal gillnetting in Zone 6 (Bonneville Dam pool upstream through the John Day Dam pool) as they worried about a declining steelhead run and whether upstream hatcheries could meet their escapement goals for both fall chinook and steelhead broodstock.

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States Close Fall Chinook Fishing Below Bonneville Dam After Anglers Surpass Pre-Season Harvest Guideline

September 5th, 2019

After reviewing harvest information, Oregon and Washington abruptly closed the Columbia River to fall chinook angling from Warrior Rock to Bonneville Dam as of 12:01 am, Sept. 6, when it became clear that nearly 10 percent more of the fish had been caught throughout the Columbia River than was allocated.

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States Go Over Sturgeon Abundance Numbers, Open Two Fishing Days; Tribal Gillnetters Get 3.5 Days Targeting Fall Chinook Above Bonneville

September 5th, 2019

In a hearing this week (Thursday, Sept. 5), the two-state Columbia River Compact set two Saturdays later this month for recreational angling of white sturgeon from Wauna upstream to Bonneville Dam.

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With NOAA Permit, Idaho Expands Fall Chinook Fishing On Clearwater River; Survey Asked How Not To Interfere With Catch/Release Steelhead Fishing

September 5th, 2019

The federal approval for a Snake River basin fall chinook salmon plan has given the go-ahead for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to open recreational angling in the Snake, Clearwater and Salmon rivers this week.

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With Steelhead Forecasted Return Dropping 27 Percent, States Extend Ban On Retention In Lower Mainstem Columbia River

August 29th, 2019

With a reduction in the upriver steelhead forecast by 27.2 percent, the two-state Columbia River Compact at its hearing yesterday, Aug. 28, extended the states’ ban on steelhead retention in the mainstem Columbia River that began in August to Sept. 30. The ban on retention is from Buoy 10 in the lower river estuary upstream to The Dalles Dam. The area upstream of The Dalles Dam to the John Day Dam is already closed to steelhead retention.

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River Managers Have Additional Dworshak Water To Keep Clearwater, Lower Snake Cooler For Fish Through September

August 28th, 2019

The elevation of the pool level at Dworshak Dam will be more than 3 feet higher beginning the month of September than had been expected, giving river managers additional water to keep the Clearwater River and tailwater at Lower Granite on the Snake River cooler throughout the month.

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A Record-Breaking Run Of Non-Native American Shad In Columbia River Dwarfs Salmon Return Numbers

August 23rd, 2019

American shad, a silvery bullet of a fish whose home waters are on the East Coast of the U.S., migrated into the Columbia River basin this year in record numbers. Nearly 7.5 million of the 18-inch, 3 to 8 pound fish crossed Bonneville Dam, more than four times the number of salmon and steelhead that have crossed the dam this year.

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Oregon Opens Fall Chinook Fishing For Lower Snake-Hells Canyon; Numbers Passing Lower Granite Expected To Be Half Of Average, Sockeye Return Still Dismal

August 22nd, 2019

As of Aug. 24, Oregon will open the river from the Oregon and Washington border up to the Idaho Power dam for a fall chinook run that is anticipated to be 349,700 fish at the Columbia River mouth, which is 47 percent of the 10-year average (2009-2018) of 737,720 adult fall chinook. Still, the forecast is higher than the 2018 actual return of 293,424.

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Lower Snake River Sockeye Passage: ‘We Have Concerns Fish Are Not Passing Upstream Dams At Appropriate Rates’; Huge Shad Numbers Causing Some Counting Problems

July 25th, 2019

Although a “lot” of sockeye salmon are passing Ice Harbor Dam, the first dam the fish encounter when migrating up the Snake River, few are passing upstream dams, according to Claire McGrath of NOAA Fisheries.

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Council Requests Independent Science Panel Review Upper Columbia Tribes’ Report On Re-introducing Salmon/Steelhead Above Grand Coulee Dam

July 18th, 2019

Following up on a Phase 1 investigation of fish passage and reintroduction of salmon and steelhead upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams that was completed last month by the Upper Columbia United Tribes, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week approved a letter asking the Independent Scientific Advisory Board to review the report.

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First Reintroduced Salmon Returning To California Rivers; NOAA Fisheries Says Critical Step Toward Recovery

July 16th, 2019

California salmon reintroduced to their historic habitat as juveniles are, for the first time, returning to their home rivers to spawn. NOAA Fisheries says their journey home demonstrates that fish reintroductions can successfully return salmon to the state’s restored rivers and streams in an important step toward their recovery.

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Corps Releases Dworshak Water To Cool Lower Granite Tailwater For Salmon; Low Sockeye Run Downgraded By One-Third

July 11th, 2019

River temperatures in the tailrace of Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River rose above 67 degrees this week and the air temperature is predicted to rise above 90 degrees this weekend. That prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to increase releases of water from Dworshak Dam to keep Lower Granite tailwater temperature under 68 degrees, partially as an aid to the few adult sockeye salmon expected to return to the Snake River and Sawtooth Basin this year.

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Compact: Columbia River Sockeye Run Downgraded 39 Percent From Preseason Forecast, Only 58,000 Fish; Nearly 7 Million Shad Crossing Bonneville Dam; Treaty Fishing Gets Another Two Days

June 28th, 2019

Tribes will again fish in waters upstream of Bonneville Dam with next week -- the second two-day commercial gillnet period for Treaty Tribes during this year’s summer chinook period. The two-state Columbia River Compact signed off Thursday, June 27, on the additional days as they also heard that the U.S. v Oregon Technical Advisory Committee, which met Monday, had downsized the anticipated run of sockeye salmon to 58,000 fish.

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Spring Season’s Last Sea Lion Predation Report: In May, Steller Numbers At Bonneville Dam Similar To Last Year, California Sea Lions Way Down

June 26th, 2019

The number of the larger steller sea lions searching for dinner in the Bonneville Dam tailrace was about the same for May this year as the numbers observed last year in May. However, the number of California sea lions has dropped this year.

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Deschutes River Spring Chinook Above Pelton-Round Butte Dams; Good Return Results For Juveniles From Reintroduced Fish

June 20th, 2019

Although the run of spring chinook into the Deschutes River is one of the lowest in years, as it has been throughout the Columbia River basin, the proportion of the Deschutes run that originated as reintroduced fish upstream of the Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project near Madras, Oregon is one of the best in years, according to Portland General Electric.

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Changed Spill Pattern At Little Goose Dam Sees Positive Results For Adult Salmon Passage; Some Concern About Trade-Off For Juveniles Moving Downstream

June 9th, 2019

The number of adult spring chinook passing Little Goose Dam on the lower Snake River has picked up, largely due to a continuous 8-hour reduced spill regime requested last week by salmon managers of the interagency Technical Management Team.

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After 6-Year Ban, Barbed Hooks Return For Columbia River Salmon, Steelhead Fishing, Managers Say Catch/Release Mortality Rates Unchanged With Barbless; Dismal Returns Make Summer Chinook Season Unlikely

June 5th, 2019

As of last weekend, June 1, the requirement to use barbless hooks to fish for salmon, steelhead and trout in the Columbia River is no longer mandatory.

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Fish Returns

Corps Selects New Fish Count Contractor At Columbia/Snake Dams; Data Release Delays At Some Dams

March 26th, 2019

As a new contractor comes on board that will count adult fish at Columbia and Snake river dams over the next five years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says there will be a longer than normal transition period that will include delays in posting fish counts at six of the eight dams for as long as up to June.

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