Salmon recovery planners who having been taking heat from critics ever since the hydro BiOp came out in 2008 may be somewhat off the hook if a new analysis from University of Washington climate scientists is correct. Environmental and fishing groups have long complained that BiOp actions did little or nothing to counteract the impacts of climate change. ...more

With the current El Niño nailing the West Coast with textbook conditions, a shift in the jet stream that has channeled steady storms into California, leading to a milder, somewhat drier Northwest--this year's snowpack may end up well below average for the Columbia Basin. ...more

The latest NMFS analysis of PIT-tag survival data covering 10 years of barging Snake River fish past Columbia/Snake dams has shown that the strategy is still beneficial for spring chinook and steelhead most of the time, whether they are wild or hatchery bred. ...more

NOAA Fisheries scientists who monitor biological and physical conditions in the ocean off the West Coast say conditions for salmon have declined from 2008. ...more

Federal attorneys have told U.S. District Judge James Redden they are OK with a limited, voluntary remand of the 2008 BiOp if it sticks to the matter at hand, by simply adding an adaptive management implementation plan (AMIP) to the BiOp that was written by the Obama administration after its review of the salmon plan. ...more

After getting the cold shoulder from Oregon legislators earlier this year, sportfishers in Oregon announced Dec. 24 they are leading an initiative drive that would outlaw the use of gillnets and tanglenets by non-Indian fishers. ...more

Recent aerial surveys of the Snake River below Hells Canyon have counted a record number of shallow-water salmon redds, the nests made by females before they lay their eggs. More than 1,450 were seen from a helicopter, and another 29 were tallied by ground surveys. ...more

Montana's Bruce Measure has been elected to chair the Northwest Power and Conservation Council during the coming year. He has represented his state on the Council since 2005. ...more