ISAB 2025-2 / September 2025 / Theme: Multi-strategy

Climate change continues to pose considerable challenges and uncertainties for fish and wildlife restoration and mitigation actions in the Columbia River Basin. This report focuses on restoration and mitigation practices that could best support a climate-resilient ecosystem in the future.

ISAB 2025-1 / April 2025 / Theme: Multi-strategy

Estimates of salmon and steelhead smolt-to-adult survival (SAS) and return (SAR) are used in fisheries management and the assessment of hatcheries, habitat improvement projects, hydroelectric facility operations, and other activities. This report highlights the variation underlying their estimation, addresses the pitfalls related to their inconsistent application, and provides recommendations to improve their estimation, interpretation, and usability in the Columbia River Basin.

ISAB 2021-4 / October 2021 / Theme: Predation and non-natives

Introduced to the Columbia River Basin in the 1880s, the non-native American shad is now the predominant anadromous fish species in the Basin. Despite their abundance, significant uncertainties remain about their effects on the Basin’s ecosystem. This report examines what is confidently known about their role and impact in the ecosystem, what areas need additional investigation, and ultimately how fisheries co-managers and hydrosystem operators might consider shad within the context of their activities.

ISAB 2019-1 / May 2019 / Theme: Predation and non-natives

This review focuses on biological and economic impacts of native and non-native predators, the effectiveness of ongoing predator management efforts, and the potential impacts on the Columbia River Basin from spread of northern pike. The ISAB concludes that a basinwide, ecosystem-based approach for assessing and managing fish, avian, and pinniped predators collectively is needed to develop more biologically and economically effective predator control actions.

ISAB 2015-1 / February 2015 / Theme: Multi-strategy

This report cites strong evidence that robust runs – record-setting for 2014 but still less than half their estimated historical abundance – exceeded habitat limits in some areas. When carrying capacity is exceeded, salmon runs can collapse to levels the habitat will support. Carrying capacity can be limited because habitat has been blocked, its quality reduced, or other fishes (non-natives and hatchery fish) have taken over. The ISAB recommends that actions are needed that account for and reduce these limits, such as habitat restoration, passage improvement, and judicious harvest.

ISAB 2011-1 / Jan 2011 / Theme: Multi-strategy

The ISAB suggests that incorporating a food web perspective into management efforts will help sustain the ecological system, provide for more productive and resilient fisheries, and complement other approaches – such as the focus on habitat restoration – and thereby enhance our collective ability to meet the vision of the Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program.