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The Choice for Hatchery Residual Steelhead

In Science Friday by Nick Chambers

Do you know that not all hatchery steelhead smolts actually migrate to the ocean? Some remain in freshwater. Either way, these O. mykiss face a future that could be heroic (survive long enough to mate with a wild steelhead adult female) — or not-so-heroic (survive the summer in freshwater but perish during the difficult conditions of the winter).   We …

TU’s Chris Wood Speaking at Idaho’s Energy, Salmon, Agriculture, and Community Conference

In Idaho, Oregon, Washington by steelheaders

  On Tuesday, April 23rd, the Andrus Center for Public Policy will host government representatives, fish advocates, grain growers, energy executives and other stakeholders at its annual environmental conference at Idaho’s Boise State University. The theme of the 2019 Andrus conference is Energy, Salmon, Agriculture and Community: Can We Come Together?   Trout Unlimited and Wild Steelheaders United salute the …

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Science Friday: How does catch and release affect steelhead?

In Oregon, Science Friday by Nick Chambers

Today we review a study on the impacts of catch and release angling on wild steelhead in the Bulkley River, the largest tributary to British Columbia’s legendary Skeena system. Conducted by Will Twardek and several others, this study looked into the effects of catch and release, air exposure and fight time on behavior and survival to spawning.   The study …

Snake River Steelhead Recovery Plan Released by NOAA

In Idaho by Nick Chambers

By Rob Masonis   The recent release of the final federal recovery plan for Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook salmon and steelhead is a milestone in the decades-long effort to reverse the precipitous decline of salmon and steelhead runs in the Snake River system. The Snake was historically the most productive region in the Columbia Basin for spring/summer chinook and steelhead, …

Science Friday: Hitch-Hiking Smolts

In Idaho, Oregon, Science Friday, Washington by Nick Chambers

Last week we talked about the importance of spill for out-migrating kelts and smolts in the Columbia Basin. Increasing spill is only one method employed to enhance downstream survival of smolts. As early as the mid-1950s smolts were loaded onto barges and moved downstream past the dams through the lock system. While fisheries managers experimented with this tactic early on …

What is a B-run steelhead?

In Oregon, Science Friday by Nick Chambers

Fisheries managers predict this will be a very bad year for returning B-run steelhead in the Snake River. The Snake, with its headwaters straddling the Teton Range on the Idaho-Wyoming border, is the largest tributary to the Columbia and its intact habitat and steelhead runs are vital to the overall health of Columbia River steelhead populations. Despite the high quality …

Put fish first this summer in the Columbia

In Idaho, Oregon, Washington by Nick Chambers

It’s hard to ignore the dismal forecast for this summer’s steelhead return to the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Just how bad is it? Well, this year’s wild and hatchery summer runs returning past Bonneville Dam are forecast to be the lowest in the past 34 years.   Predictions for all stocks look bad, but in particular the later arriving and …

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Time to Take Action on Columbia/Snake River Dams

In Idaho, Live Action Alerts, Oregon, Washington by steelheaders

Take Action The Columbia and Snake Rivers were once prolific producers of wild steelhead and salmon.  It is estimated that the Snake River system alone produced 55 percent of the Columbia Basin’s summer steelhead and 40 percent of its spring/summer Chinook.   But today all Columbia Basin wild steelhead and salmon populations are just a fraction of their historic abundance …

Asotin Creek – WDFW update

In Idaho, Science Friday, Steelhead Files, Washington by steelheaders

By Ethan Crawford, Fisheries Biologist – WDFW Asotin Creek Project An earlier blog post described the great resiliency of wild steelhead in Asotin Creek and noted that this resiliency is in part due to a combination of a variety factors: improved habitat quality, increased spill at hydroelectric facilities, good ocean conditions, and a great reduction in hatchery origin steelhead spawners, …