Orcasphere

Keynote speaker at Sound Waters 2010
Dr. Nathaniel ‘Nat’ Scholtz, NOAA/NWFSC
Coho salmon are our first choice for a ’sentinel species’ because they:

are widely distributed
inhabit lowland steams that are important and familiar to humans and areas impacted directly by stormwater runoff (if we can reduce toxics in lowland streams, then we’ll likely keep them out of the [...]

Dr. Jack Rensel, Rensel Associates Aquatic Sciences (works with Puget Sound fish farmers on permitting/etc., but not BC farmers)
Harmful Algal Blooms and Possible Effects on Fraser River Sockeye Salmon
11:04 Intro
Much of this talk is based on co-author Nicola Haigh’s 10-year sockeye database.
Target algae of interest: Heterosigma akashiwo, HAMP database
11:06 Background
Heterosigma is a microflagellate that kills [...]

This Friday, January 15, 2010, is the deadline for public comment on the proposed orca conservation area along the west side of San Juan Island. All marine conservationists should consider commenting on these precedent-setting rules: comment via email | comment via web form.  (Official background and the PDF of proposed rule are on the [...]

Good national news is rolling in about 5 new southern resident whales and no deaths in 2009, plus one new baby thus far in 2010. Howard, Ken, and Brad allude to looking for correlations or explanations in chinook salmon abundance:
It sounds simplistic, Garrett said, but “the way that we can tag the population fluctuations [...]

This is a brief letter from Alexandra Morton that cuts to the chase re B.C. salmon farming management. Maybe WA should move it’s pens on-shore, too? Note the connection she draws between Lake Washington sockeye collapse and diseases from B.C. pens.
Land-based salmon farms can work

There are some great observations and quotes in the liveblog of Matthey Preusch during the Nov 23, 2009, Salmon Court. This first one suggests a slight of hand or an ignorance of the primary findings of the Bright Future report
— that we do not necessarily have to choose between spilling water for salmon [...]

Today’s the last day for killer whale advocates to ensure that the southern residents get some consideration in the power plan that guides the Pacific Northwest on a 20-year horizon and won’t be reviewed for 5 years.  Currently, the complete plan PDF itself does not even include the words “orca” or  “killer whale.”  Clearly the [...]

This story makes it clear to me that Oregon is WAY ahead of Washington on dam removal.  Whether it’s breaching of small dams like Savage Rapids or open discussion of lower Snake River Dam removal, Oregon is setting an inspirational pace in the 21st century.
All this is coming from a region/State where the spotted owl [...]

Interesting news of an agreement about dam removal by ~2019 on the Klamath River. The cooperation exhibited by disparate stake-holders mimics what happened with the Elwha, but might inspire hope for more complex basins like the Columbia because the cooperation occurred across a interstate border (OR/CA).  Let’s hope CA manages to come up with [...]

In a bit of press coverage related to a new publication by John Ford et al. we orca advocates are again getting the confusing message: southern residents need a place at the table where Chinook salmon management is derived, but it’s sure to be nearly impossible to represent them.  I say it’s time to stop [...]