Articles written by columbia basin bulletin
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Change in stream beds impacts salmon spawn
A Washington State University researcher has found that the mating habits of salmon can alter the profile of stream beds, affecting the evolution of an entire watershed. His study is one of the first to quantitatively show that salmon can influence...
Study examines ocean effects on chinook
Productivity of wild chinook salmon from the Columbia River to northern Alaska is subject to large-scale atmospheric and ocean circulation trends, especially the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation, according to a recent study. Other studies of coho,...
Warm ocean moves fish north, changes spawning
Unusually warm ocean conditions off the Pacific Northwest in the last few years led anchovies, sardines and hake to begin spawning in Northwest waters much earlier in the year and, for anchovy, longer than biologists have ever recorded before, new...
NOAA centers: 55-60% chance of a La Niña winter
NOAA is reporting the summer of 2017 was the third warmest on record globally, with the Pacific Northwest feeling the same heat, but the region may be in for another cold, wet fall and winter. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center’s most recent El N...
Study looks at juvenile salmon mortality in Columbia's plume
By The Columbia Basin Bulletin As juvenile salmon and steelhead enter the ocean, the common murre and sooty shearwater, offshore avian predators that feed on forage fish such as salmon, throw up a “predator gauntlet” while the fish are still in the...
NOAA: Ocean surveys show poor conditions for Columbia salmon
Ocean conditions for salmon headed to sea this year are very poor, according to recent NOAA Fisheries research surveys, and have a high likelihood of depressing salmon returns to the Columbia River in the next few years. The outlook is described in...
Study indicates salmonids rely on crucial gene
New technologies for analyzing DNA may transform how imperiled species are considered and managed for conservation protection, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances and led by the University of California, Davis. These...
Low steelhead numbers restrict gillnetters
Early commercial fall fishing began August 21 for both commercial non-treaty gillnetters and treaty gillnetters on the Columbia River mainstem while Idaho, due to historic low returns, suspended retention of steelhead in Idaho rivers as of August...
Steelhead decline starts with ocean entry
West Coast steelhead runs are declining, and a new study pegs much of the problem to poor survival of smolts early after entry into the ocean. After entering the ocean, steelhead smolts head out over the continental shelf from wherever they enter...
Fall fishing sees lower coho, chinook returns
Tribes, commercial gillnetters and sports anglers began fishing August 1 as the two-state Columbia River Compact met last week to set fishing times for the fall season. Some 613,840 fall chinook are forecasted to return to the Columbia River, 96...
NOAA: Warmer Aug. to Nov., winter to be neutral
The Pacific Northwest should expect continued warmer-than-average temperatures and normal rainfall August through October, according to a new long-term climate outlook developed by the NOAA Climate Prediction Center. The El Niño Southern Oscillation,...
Bald eagles harass cormorants, so Corps stops culling program
Bald eagles continue to harass double-crested cormorants at East Sand Island in the lower Columbia River estuary, essentially bringing all nesting activity on the island to a halt. Throughout June, bald eagles have driven the cormorants from the...
Pinnipeds show high 2017 salmon predation rate
After a month with the number of sea lions hanging out at Bonneville Dam to snack on salmon, steelhead and other available fish exceeding the 10-year average, the number fell to just one, according to a June 7 report. Most of the Steller sea lions le...
Study: Acidified ocean water widespread
A three-year survey of the California Current System along the West Coast of the United States found persistent, highly acidified water throughout this ecologically critical nearshore habitat, with hotspots of pH measurements as low as any oceanic...
Spring chinook run estimate is downsized once again
For the second time in two weeks, the estimated size of the Columbia River’s spring chinook run has been changed. Just three weeks ago, the runs size forecast was downgraded by the U.S. v Oregon Technical Advisory Committee from its initial f...
Spring chinook run downgraded to half of early prediction
The regional advisory committee that forecasts Columbia River salmon runs so fisheries managers can set recreational, commercial and tribal fisheries last week cut their early season run size prediction for spring chinook in half. Recreational...
Sea lion task force makes recommendations for fish
Lethal removal of sea lions at Bonneville Dam is likely not reducing predation on salmon and steelhead at the dam by California sea lions (CSL). That is the general opinion of the NOAA Fisheries’ Pinniped-Fishery Interactive Task Force that met f...
Spring chinook run seems low and late
Just 3,337 spring chinook had been counted passing upstream over Bonneville Dam as of April 30, the lowest count of the fish at the dam on record for that date. Anglers in the lower Columbia River caught nearly twice that number in March and April an...
Sea lion task force makes recommendations for fish
Lethal removal of sea lions at Bonneville Dam is likely not reducing predation on salmon and steelhead at the dam by California sea lions (CSL). That is the general opinion of the NOAA Fisheries’ Pinniped-Fishery Interactive Task Force that met f...
Springer angling picks up as the river clears
Recreational angling improved over the weekend in the Columbia River from the river’s mouth to Bonneville Dam, prompting the two-state Columbia River Compact this week to take a cautious approach to extending early season fishing. The Compact held i...
Study shows how sea lions transmit salmon eating behavior
A new study used the same kind of models that scientists use to track disease to instead examine how some California sea lions have learned to prey on salmon gathering to ascend fish ladders at Bonneville Dam. Although sea lions commonly feast on...
La Niña leaving NW, El Niño may lie ahead
La Niña conditions that were a big driver behind colder and wetter weather in the Columbia Basin “are no longer present” — at least over the Pacific Ocean, according to a monthly report issued February 9 by the NOAA Climate Prediction Center. Ocean w...
Fish & Wildlife board adopts gillnet ban
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 7-2 on January 14 to implement the next phase of the state's reform policy on Columbia River salmon management, including updates to provisions for fall chinook salmon and other provisions that will...
Forecast: Lower returns for 2017 chinook
The forecasted return of adult spring and summer chinook salmon to the Columbia River basin in 2017 will be lower than initial estimates made last year in December, but the estimate of sockeye salmon is nearly twice the size of last year’s e...
Autumn temps hottest on record for nation
The average U.S. temperature in autumn was 57.6 degrees F (4.1 degrees above average) and surpassed last fall as the warmest on record, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Precipitation during this p...
