December 2009
Minnesota joins suit to seal Asian-carp-infested waters
Chicago Tribune
By James Janega
December 29, 2009
Legal forces in the Upper Midwest arrayed against the invasive Asian carp Monday, as Minnesota joined a lawsuit with Ohio and Michigan applying legal pressure to seal off Illinois' carp-infested waterways from the Great Lakes.
Sea lions vanish from popular San Francisco pier
USA Today
By Michael Winter
December 29, 2009
For the past 20 years, hundreds of noisy, lazy, smelly sea lions have conquered the boat docks at Pier 39 in San Francisco and been a top tourist attraction.
Suddenly, they're gone.
No one knows why they left or whether they're coming back.Group wants gill-net salmon fishing ban on ballot
The Oregonian
By Matthew Preusch
December 28, 2009
A conservation group wants Oregonians to vote on whether to ban gill and tangle net fishing for salmon in Oregon waters, including the Columbia River.
The proposal is the latest in a long history of ballot initiatives and legislative proposals attempting to stop commercial gill netting of the Columbia's salmon and steelhead, many of which are listed under the Endangered Species Act.Scientists say most salmon runs rise this year
The Union Democrat
By Michael Kay
December 28, 2009
More salmon swam up the Stanislaus and Mokelumne rivers to spawn this fall than during last year's run, though their numbers remain below historic averages.
The number of salmon making their way up the Tuolumne River, meanwhile, likely fell in 2009, a year after its first gain in nearly a decade.
Already, almost 1,200 Chinook salmon have journeyed up the Stanislaus River, compared to 923 during last year's fall run, according to preliminary figures from FISHBIO Environmental, a consulting group that monitors the salmon run for the region's irrigation districts.Region sees record steelhead run
The Spokesman-Review
By Rich Landers
December 27, 2009
The record run of steelhead that paraded up the Snake River delivered pleasure and profit from the mouth of the Columbia upstream 800 miles to the Salmon, Idaho, area.
On Aug. 13, a one-day record of 34,053 steelhead climbed over Bonneville Dam - the first of many they encounter on their migration from the ocean to spawning streams - and surged up the Columbia and inland like a piscatorial tsunami.Bottleneck at Delta must be opened
The Sun
By Jeff Kightlinger
December 26, 2009
Heading into 2010, one thing is certain about the water situation for the Inland Valley and all of Southern California:
No matter how much it rains, the water shortage facing the region and much of the state will not be over. A tightening bottleneck exists at the hub of the statewide water system - Northern California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The problem is akin to a freeway with most of its lanes closed at rush hour. This statewide problem has only been getting worse in recent years. And it severely compromises Southern California's ability to take advantage of a wet winter and replenish our water storage network.Smith's chinook numbers are the highest in decades
Curry Coastal Pilot
By Kurt Madar
December 26, 2009
The Smith River and its tributaries are seeing one of the largest runs of Chinook salmon in decades.
The basin's rivers and creeks are so full that in some spots it seems like a dexterous person could walk across the backs of fish from one side to the other.Sturgeon anglers prepare for steep reductions
The Columbian
By Allen Thomas
December 24, 2009
It is no secret deep cuts are coming to sport and commercial sturgeon fishing in the lower Columbia River.
We will not know generally how deep until the Washington and Oregon fish and wildlife commissions give some policy guidance in early February, and not specifically how deep until the regulations for the balance of 2010 are adopted on Feb. 18.Internal debate over Obama salmon plan
The Oregonian
By Matthew Preusch
December 24, 2009
Independent scientists largely approved of the Obama administration's plan for Northwest salmon and dam, internal e-mails show.
The administration released scores of documents related to its review of the controversial plan, meant to keep salmon from sliding closer to extinction due to the operation of federal hydroelectric dams, late last month.Libby Dam spill test to help white sturgeon
The Western News
By Brad Fuqua
December 24, 2009
As far as biologists can tell, fewer than 500 adults remain among the population of white sturgeon in the Kootenai River.
In wildlife terms, that's not a whole lot of fish - "especially when they're not reproducing," said Jason Flory of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Northern Idaho Field Office.The fishing report
The San Francisco Chronicle
By Brian Hoffman
December 24, 2009
The 2009 fall run of king salmon came and went, we'll call that a fact. Rode the summer ocean into the bay and delta, then found the rivers and natal creeks, where the salmon spawned or were spawned by hand in the fall months, in the way these fish are made.
It's December now, blue after a rain, and it would be nice to write something uplifting here, something wildly unexpected in the way of numbers of returning fish. Would be, but there's still no total count for the CVS, as the Department of Fish and Game gathers, checks and rechecks its fall-run numbers until some time around February, when its regulatory body starts the process of determining whether or not there will ever be a sport or commercial salmon season again. And, anyway, it seems most of the department took the week off, what with the holiday and all.Federal plan to ease water crisis in California Bay-Delta
Environment News Service
December 22, 2009
To address the water crisis in California, the Obama administration today released a coordinated interim action plan that involves six federal agencies.
The plan is undertaken in accordance with a Memo of Understanding signed at the end of September by six federal agencies - the Departments of the Interior, Commerce, Agriculture and the Army as well as the U.S. EPA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.Progress report on 2008 salmon BiOp implementation
Columbia Basin Bulletin
December 22, 2009
Federal officials say they are on track, and producing results in terms of improved fish survival, after the first year of implementation of measures called for in NOAA Fisheries Service's 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System biological opinion.
A 2008 progress report released Monday describes work by federal agencies during the first year of the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System "BiOp." The 10-year strategy issued by NOAA Fisheries Service aims to assure the Columbia-Snake river hydro system avoids jeopardizing the survival of protected fish stocks. The Columbia River basin is home to 13 salmon and steelhead stocks that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.More good news for Columbia River spring chinook
The Seattle Times
By Mark Yuasa
December 22, 2009
We just can't stop saying enough about what to expect in the Columbia River this coming year for spring chinook.
State Fish and Wildlife now reported today (Dec. 18) that the three main tributaries above Bonneville Dam will also see a much improved adult spring chinook return in 2010.
This comes on the heels of last week's announcement of a huge predicted return of 470,000 upriver spring chinook (169,300 last year) back to the Columbia, and news earlier this week about a big jump of returning fish in the tributaries below Bonneville Dam.Michigan asks Supreme Court to shut corridors
The Chicago Tribune
By Joel Hood and James Janega
December 22, 2009
The fight to keep invasive Asian carp from the Great Lakes reached the nation's highest court Monday as Michigan's attorney general sued Illinois, asking for the closing of two shipping locks near Chicago in perhaps a last-ditch effort to save the region's $7 billion fishing industry.
Contending that Illinois officials have been too lax in defending Lake Michigan from Asian carp, Attorney General Mike Cox asked the U.S. Supreme Court for immediate action in closing the O'Brien Lock and Dam in the Calumet-Sag Channel and the Chicago Controlling Works in the Illinois River -- hoping to seal off the most direct route for fish entering Lake Michigan.Spring chinook returns look good for the Willamette
The Seattle Times
By Mark Yuasa
December 21, 2009
Another shot in the arm as far as predictions go for Columbia River spring chinoook in 2010.
This time the Willamette River that flows on the Oregon side of the Lower Columbia River is expecting 62,700 adult spring chinook to return this coming spring, and 75 percent of the run will be of hatchery origin fish.
Of that predicted total 45,950 are four-year-old fish, and 14,650 are five-year-olds.Catch shares may not lead to healthier fisheries
The Oregonian
By Matthew Preusch
December 21, 2009
A fisheries management tool embraced by the Obama administration may not increase the health of ocean fish stocks, a study concludes.
But catch shares, which divide the total catch among fishermen, can make fisheries more predictable, according to the study by University of Washington professor Timothy Essington. The study will be published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.An epic run
The Daily Triplicate
By Kurt Madar
December 19, 2009
The Smith River and its tributaries are seeing one of the largest runs of Chinook salmon in decades.
The basin's rivers and creeks are so full that in some spots it seems like a dexterous person could walk across the backs of fish from one side to the other.Fishing stamp funds not used for fish
The San Francisco Chronicle
By Tom Stienstra
December 20, 2009
A pot full of money, $6.7 million earmarked to make fishing better in the bay and delta, is sitting in a Department of Fish and Game bank account, the agency's Harry Morse confirmed.
Rain aids West Marin salmon spawn
The San Francisco Chronicle
By Peter Fimrite
December 19, 2009
The celebrated salmon of west Marin County are taking advantage of the badly needed rain and are wriggling their way in surprising numbers toward the creekside communities where they typically lay their eggs and die.