Water for Fish, Farms, and People
- March 14, 2017
- John Harrison
Water transactions are helping fish and boosting local economies across the West, and the Columbia River Basin provides an example of success.
Category – Fish and wildlife
Fish Tools
- March 13, 2017
- John Harrison
The Council and its partners are developing online information tools to help show progress toward recovery goals for fish in the Columbia River Basin.
Sea Lion Fish Feast
- March 01, 2017
- John Harrison
The number of salmon and steelhead consumed by sea lions at Bonneville Dam last year, more than 9,500 fish, was the second-largest since observations and monitoring began in 2002, according to a report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. During their annual spring foray into the Columbia River, sea lions also killed lamprey and sturgeon.
Lamprey Rescue
- February 16, 2017
- John Harrison
A 400-million-year-old species, Pacific lamprey, has cultural and environmental significance in the Columbia River Basin, where upriver populations have declined over time, in some rivers to zero. But research, artificial propagation, and dam-passage improvements for adult lamprey show promise of rebuilding the species.
Mussel Strategy
- January 23, 2017
- John Harrison
Non-native, invasive freshwater mussels pose "a grave threat to the waters and economic resources" of the state, Governor Steve Bullock said last fall, and now the state has a plan to respond quickly if and when the invaders take hold.
Fish And Wildlife Project Cost Savings
- January 18, 2017
- John Harrison
Cost savings in existing fish and wildlife projects could be shifted to higher-priority projects including scientific research, habitat evaluations, and projects addressing sturgeon and lamprey without adding money to the program.
Mussel Alert
- December 16, 2016
- John Harrison
Zebra and quagga mussel larvae discovered in several Montana water bodies in November prompted a defensive action to keep the damaging species from invading other Northwest water bodies. Federal money is on the way to help the fight.
Invasive Mussels Discovered in Montana, Governor Declares Statewide Natural Resource Emergency
- December 05, 2016
- Carol Winkel
Montana Governor Steve Bullock issued an executive order on November 30 declaring a statewide natural resource emergency for due to the detection invasive aquatic mussel larvae
Moving Fish Over High Dams
- November 16, 2016
- John Harrison
In response to a strategy in the Council's 2014 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, a paper by the Council's staff reviews ways that fish are moved past tall or "high head" dams. The paper uses examples of fish passage at dams in the Northwest and elsewhere.
The Blob Is Back
- October 11, 2016
- John Harrison
Scientists are working to understand how The Blob — unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean — is affecting species at virtually every level of the food chain, including Columbia River salmon.
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