SPILL REQUEST DENIED; FISH WILL USE DAM’S CORNER COLLECTOR Posted on Friday, March 02, 2007 (PST)

A request by state salmon managers for specially-timed spill at Bonneville Dam to provide an extra passage route for juvenile Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery fall chinook tules was denied this week in a split -- yes, no, or do-not-support-but-do-not-object -- vote. Read More...

RUSSELL BROOKS HAD BIG IMPACT ON SALMON LISTING POLICIES Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 (PST)

The attorney who won a landmark court case that threatened to undercut the threatened and endangered status of many salmon and steelhead runs on the West Coast died Sunday. Read More...

THIRD NEW SPILLWAY WEIR NOT READY FOR 2007 FISH MIGRATION Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 (PST)

The goal of having a third lower Snake River hydroproject outfitted with a "removable spillway weir" in time for the 2007 spring-summer salmon migration will be missed due to construction delays, according to federal officials. Read More...

ECONOMIC ADVISORS CALL DAM-REMOVAL REPORT ‘UNRELIABLE’ Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 (PST)

While calling a recent report on the cost and benefits of removing the four Lower Snake dams “unreliable,” the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s independent economic advisors say that “perhaps” the region should again study the economic and ecological impacts of removing the dams. Read More...

CANADIAN FIRM TAKES COLUMBIA RIVER CASE TO SUPREME COURT Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 (PST)

A U.S. appellate court decision making a Canadian company liable for fouled Columbia River waters below the border could well trigger a pollution war between the two countries, according to a request filed Tuesday with the U.S. Supreme Court. Read More...

STUDY: IRON FROM NORTHWEST RIVER FUELS PHYTOPLANKTON, FISH Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 (PST)

A new study suggests that the iron-rich winter runoff from Pacific Northwest streams and rivers, combined with the wide continental shelf, form a potent mechanism for fertilizing the nearshore Pacific Ocean, leading to robust phytoplankton production and fisheries. Read More...

HAZING STARTS FOR FISH- GOBBLING SEA LIONS IN COLUMBIA RIVER Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 (PST)

The bullets – in this case rubber – began flying Thursday in what is the earliest and most ambitious attempt to disturb the eating habits of California and stellar sea lions in the area below the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. Read More...

YEAR’S FIRST MAINSTEM COMMERCIAL FISHERY NEEDS MORE FISH Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 (PST)

Oregon and Washington fisheries managers opted this week to bide their time, waiting for a more favorable mix of spring chinook salmon to enter the Columbia River before triggering a lower river mainstem commercial fishery. Read More...

WITH LESS FISH, WASHINGTON TO EXPAND MARK-SELECTIVE FISHERIES Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 (PST)

Prospects for salmon fishing are down this year with fewer chinook and coho expected to return to most rivers in the region, according to preseason forecasts developed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and treaty tribes. Read More...