salmon

President Biden today directed federal agencies to restore healthy and abundant wild salmon populations to the Columbia River Basin. The presidential memorandum says tribal treaties need to be honored.

In a historic agreement, the federal government announced Thursday it will fund tribal efforts to bring salmon back to the Upper Columbia River. Two massive dams have blocked salmon from that part of the river for close to a century.

Northern pike have massive, toothy jaws and even bigger appetites. The invasive fish have been known to even chomp down on bats and ducks. So, it’s no wonder biologists are worried about salmon – and the billions of dollars that have been poured into their recovery.

Four congress members listened to testimony about whether the four Lower Snake River dams should stay in place or be removed.

Each Spring, Northwest tribes celebrate the first foods of the season. At a Colville ceremony marking the return of migrating salmon, ecological challenges were top of mind.

Searching where salmon lay eggs is getting a boost from some eyes in the sky. Researchers are testing drones to survey for salmon nests.

The United States and Canada will renegotiate how to handle flood control and hydropower on the Columbia River. However, salmon advocates also want negotiators to consider the health of the Columbia River ecosystem.

Only 12 commercial fishing captains hold permits to go reefnet fishing in the Pacific Northwest out of a fleet that once numbered in the hundreds. The distinctive technique of reefnet fishing dates back thousands of years as a traditional Indigenous method to catch salmon. Its practitioners today say the gear should be the preferred way to harvest healthy salmon runs while avoiding fragile stocks.

Breaching the Snake River dams is one major way to protect salmon. That’s according to a federal report on salmon recovery in the Columbia River Basin that came out today.

If two British Columbia tailings dams fail, it could spell disaster, according to two reports that analyzed the chances of the dams failing.