Food Web Report Finds Wider Audience

A report on the importance of food webs to ecosystem health and  fish restoration efforts in the Columbia River Basin, written by the Council's Independent Scientific Advisory Board last year, has recently been published as an article for an international audience in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

As noted in an earlier blog post by lead author Dr. Robert J. Naiman, a University of Washington professor of acquatic and fishery sciences, "food webs fuel that ecosystem," underpinning the productivity and resiliency of the basin's fisheries.

The report's appearance in the journal will help bring more attention to this critical factor.

"The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has a strong fish and wildlife program that is based on what's called the four Hs--hatcheries, harvest, hydrosystem, and habitat," said Naiman.

"Our suggestion is that the program needs to incorporate food web concerns to improve its effectiveness."