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Salmon Gone, Fishermen Adapt
New York Times
05/09/2008
With most of Oregon and California's commercial salmon fishery shut down because of sharp declines in the number of the fish returning to the Sacramento River to spawn, many fishermen are looking for almost any alternative, trying to diversify along with the rest of the regional economy.
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Sea lion cages were outside Bonneville Dam surveillance
Portland Oregonian
05/09/2008
No security cameras were pointed at the floating cages where six sea lions were mysteriously found dead at Bonneville Dam over the weekend, federal authorities said Thursday.
State officials responsible for the trapping of sea lions at the dam also acknowledged there were no measures to monitor activities around the cages or prevent foul play when state crews were not present.
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Boats are bringing in limits of halibut on the coast
Olympia Olympian
05/08/2008
Last week, spring chinook fishing in Columbia River tributaries was a real challenge and not very productive. And it’s not looking any better this week.
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Restoration for the San Joaquin River
San Francisco Chronicle
05/08/2008
Long-stalled legislation to bring life back to the dried-up San Joaquin River and restore its historic salmon run cleared a significant hurdle Wednesday when a U.S. Senate committee gave its approval.
The bill passed by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee now joins similar legislation approved by a House committee in November. The legislation would pay for restoring the once-mighty river, which foamed with spawning salmon until it was dammed in 1942.
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B.C. Fish-Farm Critics Move Fight to Court
CBC BC
05/06/2008
Some of the most vociferous critics of fish farming on the West Coast say they will ask a B.C. court to prevent the provincial government from renewing leases on fish farms.
Alexandra Morton, a biologist, said she, an association of gillnetters and the Wilderness Tourism Association filed a petition Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court.
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Views: B.C. Fish Farms Go to Court
Vancouver Sun
05/07/2008
Debate over the future of fish farming on British Columbia's coast moved from skirmishing in scientific journals to a full-blown court battle Tuesday.
This time it's a challenge to the constitutional legality of the B.C. government regulating the same salmon farms whose rapid expansion it enthusiastically promoted.
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Alaska Hydro Project Stirs Dissent
Anchorage Daily News
05/07/2008
A $4 million hydroelectric project proposed for Hatcher Pass is getting re-energized but is facing questions about its impact on a premier salmon stream in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
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'Chain of Legal Actions' to Fight Fish Farms
Toronto Globe and Mail
05/07/2008
The legal authority of the provincial government to regulate fish farms on the West Coast is being challenged in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
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Feds' Fish Aid Falls Short for Oregon
Tillamook Headlight-Herald
05/07/2008
If the $500,000 in aid to be distributed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski's office didn't sound like much to Oregon salmon fishers who have been left without a season, the figure $45 million may be more appealing.
That's how much the Governor's Office has estimated the state will lose because of the closed season. The number includes not just commercial fishers but processors, sport anglers and charters and all support business, from retail shops to gas stations.
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Agencies Issue Plan to Run Dam, Preserve Salmon
San Diego Union Tribune
05/05/2008
The Bush administration Monday issued its final court-ordered plans for making Columbia Basin hydroelectric dams and irrigation projects safe for endangered salmon, calling them the most robust and comprehensive effort yet.
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Views: Aid Coming for Fishermen
Eugene Register Guard
05/05/2008
Without major shifts in federal salmon policy, fishermen and coastal communities will be in the same position for years to come. Congress should conduct hearings on the salmon crisis and begin work on a cohesive, workable policy that will bring the fish back to West Coast rivers.
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Salmon Advocates Fault Plans for Dams
Tacoma News Tribune
05/06/2008
The Bush administration issued its final court-ordered plans Monday for making Columbia Basin hydroelectric dams and irrigation projects safe for endangered salmon. It called the plans the most robust and comprehensive effort yet.
But salmon advocates blasted them as a step backward, saying they depend too much on restoring habitat in tributaries to boost fish numbers and not enough on reducing the high numbers of young salmon killed by 14 dams on their way to the sea.
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Feds' Salmon Plan Leaves Dam Operations Intact
Portland Oregonian
05/06/2008
After two rejections in court, the U.S. government released its third plan Monday for pulling threatened Columbia River basin salmon from the brink of extinction -- again without dramatically altering hydropower generation from the system's dams.
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Tribes, U.S. Sign Deal on NW dams
Portland Oregonian
05/05/2008
Four Northwest tribes finalized a new $900 million agreement with the federal government that they hope will begin to reverse the damage done by Columbia River system dams.
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Fishing Season Blues in BC
canada.com
05/05/2008
"Every signal we're getting from DFO is for an absolutely devastating fishing season," said MP Nathan Cullen.
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Sea lions apparently shot while in traps
Portland Oregonian
05/05/2008
A controversial sea-lion trapping program along the Columbia River was suspended Sunday after authorities discovered six federally protected animals in floating traps dead, apparently from gunshot wounds.
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Federal agency declares West Coast salmon fisheries disaster
Seattle Times
05/02/2008
Federal authorities declared the West Coast ocean salmon fishery a failure Thursday, opening the way for Congress to appropriate economic disaster assistance for coastal communities in California, Oregon and Washington.
"This is a bleak year," Jim Balsiger, NOAA Fisheries Service acting assistant administrator, said in announcing the declaration in Portland, Ore.
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Wild Salmon Rationing in BC
CBC BC
04/30/2008
First Nations leaders along the Fraser River are being asked to do something they've never been asked to do -- ration their salmon catch and share among themselves. Sto:lo Nation fisheries adviser Ernie Crey said 2008 is the worst year he's seen in five decades for returning sockeye on the Fraser.
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Yakama Tribe Agrees on Funding for Fish
Yakima Herald-Republic
05/01/2008
Yakama tribal members Wednesday night reversed a previous decision and agreed to move forward on a plan to pour about $900 million into fish restoration on the Columbia River.
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Views: The Escalating Sea Lice Dispute
Vancouver Sun
04/30/2008
The sea lice brawl erupted again this week.
Five scientists who predict the extinction of pink salmon in the Broughton archipelago if sea lice associated with fish farms are not controlled have published a withering rebuttal of counterclaims by two other scientists who challenged their case.
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B.C. Natives Asked to Ration Sockeye Catch
Toronto Globe and Mail
04/30/2008
Sockeye returns to the Fraser River this summer will be so poor that the federal government has asked 94 native bands in the watershed to come up with a catch-sharing plan that, for the first time, may involve "salmon rationing."
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B.C. Restaurant Takes Wild Salmon Off Menu
Toronto Globe and Mail
04/30/2008
In a province where summer means sockeye the same way that fall means rain, salmon is not just a menu option; it's part of the British Columbian identity. To suggest taking wild salmon off restaurant menus is not just a radical idea, it's a challenge to deeply held social and political mores.
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Five More Sea Lions Trapped at Bonneville Dam
Vancouver Columbian
04/28/2008
State authorities trapped another five California sea lions at Bonneville Dam on Monday, sending four of them to their new home at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma. A fifth was branded and released.
Fishery managers remain concerned about sea lions eating endangered salmon. They plan to stage similar trap-and-haul operations twice a week for another month.
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Tacoma Lagoons Could Help Restore Salmon
Tacoma News Tribune
04/29/2008
A Tacoma park known as a magnet for competitive swimmers also could attract the finned variety, say advocates of a plan to revitalize Titlow’s twin lagoons.
Metro Parks is getting $51,860 in state grant money to determine whether Titlow’s sometimes algae-clogged ponds could be restored as a refuge for imperiled salmon. The Legislature approved the allocation earlier this year.
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PacifiCorp will limit turbines to help fish
Capital Press
04/28/2008
PacifiCorp has agreed to shut down two small hydroelectric powerhouses at Upper Klamath Lake during late summer and early fall so they won't kill endangered fish.
The Portland-based utility agreed to negotiations after the conservation group Oregon Wild filed notice it would sue under the Endangered Species Act to protect shortnosed suckers and Lost River suckers that get sucked into the turbines on Link River Dam, which controls water flowing out of the lake into the Klamath River.
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