Tag Archives: Salmon

Administrations (limited) interest in salmon

Lubchenco and Sutley (head of CEQ) are coming to NW next week to talk to scientists about Columbia/Snake salmon. A very welcome development. Unfortunately, they aren’t talking to any conservation groups, or fishermen, who have to be part of the solution. What’s up with that? See Joel Connelly’s recent blog in the P-I.

North Kitsap Nearshore Fish

Paul Dorn, Preliminary Results of Beach Seine Sampling in 2007 and 2008.

Unmarked coho dominated our seines, particularly in may/june.  Coho size about 120-140cm, larger if from hatchery.  Lots of juvenile chum in apr/may/june (many more in 2007 than in 2008, probably due to Dec 07 floods).  2008 pink salmon (may/june) show this is part of the pink highway for fish leaving Puget Sound.  Shiner perch in 07, 08.

Large vessel wakes are like winter storm events during the summer on the calmest of days.

$37.5M to help feed southern residents

It will be fascinating to see how this money is actually spent. The article mentions using part of the $30M to retire licenses from commercial troll fishers.

I’m guessing the $15M ($7.5M from Canada and the same from the U.S.) will be helping to replenish the PSC portfolio. This could mean renewed funding in 2010 (or maybe 2009). Perhaps some of the accepted fall 2008 proposals may get funded, despite the hit the portfolio took in the U.S. recession?

clipped from www.cbc.ca

CBC.ca Homepage

U.S. to compensate B.C. fishermen under latest pact to protect salmon
Last Updated:
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 | 11:25 PM ET
The U.S. government will hand over millions of dollars to compensate the B.C. fishing industry for dramatic cuts to salmon fisheries.
The $30-million US salve is one of several changes that took effect in the Pacific Salmon Treaty at the beginning of this year, with the aim of ensuring the sustainability of declining Pacific salmon stocks in Canada and the U.S.
Most of the U.S. funding will be for the loss in the chinook salmon catch off the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The federal and U.S. governments will also each contribute $7.5 million for other programs aimed at helping the recovery of disappearing salmon stocks along the Pacific coast.
As much as 75 per cent of the chinook caught off Vancouver Island are bound for U.S. waters
in the past fishermen on both sides of the border were taking their maximum allowable catch
It’s abundance-based management now.
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The 6th H of salmon abundance: Heat

The clipping below is from a Daily Astorian article on an EPA report regarding global warming’s potential influence on Northwest salmon.  Of most import for killer whale conservationists are the implications of what James Martin calls a “perfect storm” for salmon: low snow pack with low, warm flows in the summer.
Martin provides a nice quote regarding the economic impact of such a storm:
“In Oregon, Washington and Idaho, it’s a 35,000-job industry, and it’s worth $3 billion dollars per year,” he said. “So it’s a lot more than just a hobby. There’s a lot at stake.”
That’s about 30x the $100M estimate of ecotourism value associated  with the southern residents.
The article also mentions a report co-authored by Martin and Patty Glick called A Great Wave Rising. Dan Drais of Save Our Wild Salmon recently handed me a copy and it looks like an admirable, balanced attempt to bring climate science into the on-going struggle to devise a legal federal plan for recovering endangered fish in the Columbia/Snake basin.  I particularly like that it is rich in reputable citations with which I (and global warming skeptics) can understand the uncertainties in the trends and projections.
A quote from Glick suggests that “Heat” should be added to the 4 H’s that govern northwest salmon abundance: harvest, hatcheries, hydropower, and habitat.  But just last night, David Montogomery claimed the 5th H should be “History” — the history of salmon-human interactions, particularly in Britain and in the Northeast U.S.  So, for me “Heat” has become the 6th H and I’m even more convinced that salmon recovery (linked with killer whale recovery) is one of the most complex, grand environmental challenges of our time.
clipped from www.dailyastorian.com

12/26/2008 11:21:00 AM
The EPA warns that climate change threatens Oregon’s cold-water fish populations
By Michael Burkett
East Oregonian Publishing Group
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s report on global warming
contains some dire predictions for Oregon’s time-honored reputation as a Mecca for coldwater fishermen.
Released July 17, the report warns that the time may come when salmon- and trout-fishing trips are no longer much of an option for residents or visitors. EPA scientists further caution that warming temperatures could lead to a 50- to 100-percent decline in Chinook salmon returns in some areas, since salmon require cool water and are extremely sensitive to increasing temperatures.

Once Oregon is hit by a perfect storm comprised of “a little less snow pack, lower summer water flows and higher summer temperatures, bam! We’ll go over a threshold, and suddenly we won’t have salmon or steelhead or trout,” Martin said.
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