Copy
The Best Weekly Media Round-up of Stories about Salmon and their Habitats
Salmon News
Did someone forward you the Salmon News? Subscribe today to get the best salmon media round-up delivered to your inbox each week.
Top 10

Environmentalists in British Columbia are applauding changes to the federal Fisheries Act that became law this week.

A bill restricting oil tankers in British Columbia's northern waters has narrowly passed the Senate in Ottawa.

The critically endangered southern resident killer whales are a month late arriving to their summer home on B.C.’s coast. Researchers say their absence is a stark reminder that the orcas are slowly starving to death because there is not enough Chinook salmon to sustain them.
Many of Canada’s threatened species live in its most populated provinces. Saving the pockets of green space that surround us could help preserve it

Many plastics float, block sunlight, and do not degrade—a recipe for altering the physical properties of the water underneath.

Researchers probe how noise, murky waters, and ocean acidification affect fish senses.

Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell said his community is on edge, anticipating what could be another record-breaking fire season. Across B.C., in communities that were hard-hit during the record-breaking 2017 and 2018 wildfire season, the mood is similarly tense.

A new study suggests evidence that Ottawa uses to claim aquaculture is environmentally sustainable is sketchy because it lacks any detailed, long-term analysis.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says it is aware of a “significant” rock slide that occurred in the Fraser River in British Columbia, which could possibly hinder the passage of returning salmon.
Conservation, wildlife groups, First Nations call on BC Gov’t to deny mining permit in Skagit Valley.
Listen
Opinion
After almost four years of consultation and parliamentary process, environmental protections for fish and their habitat have finally been restored as a requirement under law. Bill C-68 reached the last milestone with Senate approval on June 18.

As the killer whale population continues to suffer, we should declare their names with pride. Names are an invitation to care.
Rich with tradition and history, Indigenous food tells the stories of the past using local, seasonal ingredients inspired by the lands and oceans.

Opponents continue to argue scrapping Site C would be cheaper than finishing it.
There are solutions that can reduce mining risks that will benefit British Columbians, our downstream neighbours, and the environment. We just need to implement them.
Flying into the small village of Iliamna, Alaska, destined for eight days at the mercy of the flow of a wild river, I took the opportunity to think critically.
The northwest corner of Washington state is renowned for its stunning scenery. Now Congress has a chance to give the nation’s highest level of conservation status to more of this area.
June is usually a wet month in British Columbia, but water levels are dropping, fish are struggling, farmers are worried and residents could face serious health risks.

We need cooperation, not unilateral actions that support the oil industry over endangered species and the climate crisis.
Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by proposed mines in transboundary areas.
Growing up on a homestead near Bristol Bay inside a designated wildlife area, I am intimately familiar with ecosystems and how they relate to the hunting world.

73 per cent of anglers are now releasing their catch back into the water. Despite climate change, and other bad things happening around us, it’s great to know we are a caring lot, even to a fish.
British Columbia

Increased shipping caused by the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion may harm the endangered southern resident killer whales of the Salish Sea, and that's led to strong opposition. But how much of a threat is that extra shipping? And is it the biggest threat to the endangered whales?
Celebrate the beauty and biodiversity of the Harrison River as they honour the majestic bald eagle and at the Eagle Festival at Kilby Historic Site.

CIMCO Refrigeration was also fined $800,000 for the leak, which came during repairs on the refrigeration system at Thunderbird Arena.
The Wild Salmon Caravan (WSC) with the Nlaka’pamux Nation will open the second day of the fest on Sunday, July 7, at noon with a Wild Salmon celebration and parade.
Goldfish are an invasive species and were recently identified in Lost Lake.
Encircled by the hulking shadows of mountains, as fading stars surrender to the rising sun, our boat drifts silently in Quesnel Lake, as if slowly orbiting the bottom of a well.

Seeing wildlife in its most natural surroundings is one of the side benefits of competing in the Northern Hardware Prince George Canoe Race on the Nechako and Fraser rivers.

Delegates are arriving at the Fraser River Valley community of Mission for the B.C. Community Forest Association’s (BCCFA) 16th conference and AGM.
The likelihood of a drought across B.C. is rising as warm weather melts away what’s left of a minuscule mountain snow pack and spring rains fail to appear.

Council voted to redirect $159,000 for design plans from the capital reserve.

The Peninsula Streams Society and the District of Saanich are teaming up to restore and enhance habitat in the Colquitz Watershed.
Salmon will be captured and transported around fishway to get to spawning grounds.

Weeks after large rocks were sunk off East Sooke, divers are discovering plenty of new sea life.

UBC researchers are tracking wild chinook salmon on their expected migratory route in the Salish Sea. They're trying to find out why salmon-eating southern resident killer whales appear to be malnourished.
Canada

From a distance, the new map designed by the Atlantic Salmon Federation is simply another rendition of the East Coast. But on closer inspection, it’s so much more.
From grizzly bears in areas undocumented by Western science to a possible new fast-running subtype of caribou, traditional knowledge is enriching scientific information about our natural world.
There is more frustration on the Exploits River among anglers who say they’ve had enough of dead salmon washing up on the banks.

Mi'kmaw comic writer Brandon Mitchell chose the Listuguj salmon raids of 1981 for the story he contributed to the graphic novel anthology This Place: 150 Years Retold, a collection of stories by Indigenous writers.

Organizers of a 2014 motocross race in southern Alberta have been handed $70,000 in fines for allowing riders to cross a creek, damaging the habitat of fish listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act.

Canada has been a leader in climate research but a new report finds the country is suffering from a ‘bleed of expertise’ as funding dries up for key programs
The team, part of the Canadian Healthy Oceans Network, developed a ‘report card’ or metric to assess the degree of 12 land- and sea-based activities on coastal ecosystems like seagrass meadows, kelp forests and rockweed beds, which provide food and shelter to a variety of animals.
National Observer spoke to several scientists about their experiences with environmental assessments on major industrial projects that got approved after their proponents submitted dubious evidence in their applications.
United States
An angler reeled in a fish with a wedding ring attached to its tail, leaving fishermen scratching their heads until the truth emerged.
 Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have recorded singing by a rare right whale for the first time. 
For years to come - even after they move on to middle school, high school and into adulthood - Momauguin Elementary School students will be able to come back to their old school, sit quietly and enjoy the schoolyard habitat that they created.
A proposal to expand hunting and fishing at 74 national wildlife refuges — including two in Ohio — is getting mixed reaction.
The live webcams along Katmai National Park's Brooks River, set in remote Alaska and operated by the wildlife streamers explore.org, just came online for the 2019 season.
Scientists working to restore salmon habitat around the Snohomish River Estuary estimate they need $1.5 billion to finish the work.

A new study from a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group takes a look at the near-term costs of projected sea level rise due to climate change.
Inside an Indiana aquafarming complex, thousands of salmon eggs genetically modified to grow faster than normal are hatching into tiny fish which could be served in restaurants by late next year.

Fishing as Maine fishermen know it will likely have to undergo big changes due to a warmer climate.
Wild salmon are being driven to extinction in American river basins. But conservationists are fighting back.
Today, fisheries managers can tell you which creek on what river system a given sockeye salmon came from within a day or two of catch. Timed fishery openings are orchestrated to let salmon escape to the many varied systems in optimum numbers.
With 2019 Chinook salmon returns forecast to be below average again, fishery managers have taken action to reduce the daily and seasonal bag limit for wild adult Chinook salmon in the Nehalem River Basin.
With reduced counts of returning Chinook salmon over the Columbia and Snake river dams, Idaho Department of Fish and Game has pulled the plug on a summer season for the South Fork of the Salmon River.

The amendment was introduced by California representative Jared Huffman, but fought by Alaska representative Don Young.
The number of spring chinook returning from the Pacific Ocean is down this year across the Northwest. But there is reason for optimism for spring chinook that originated in the Deschutes River Basin.

A goldfish the size of a small dog has been discovered in a river after it survived being flushed down the toilet by its owner. The 14-inch-long fish was found downstream of a wastewater treatment plant in the Niagara River in New York.

E2Tech’s upcoming forum “Fish Out of Water: Land-Based Aquaculture in Maine” has drawn lively interest due to its focus on sustainable land-based fish farming, a growing industry worldwide and more recently in Maine.
Crews used a mixture of real and artificial trees on pallets to attract fish to the Peter Creek arm of Barren River Lake. The project is expected to take three years to complete.

The first data is starting to come in assessing the strength of this year's Yukon River chinook salmon run — and so far the numbers are promising, says a U.S. biologist.

Whether restoring river channels and floodplains and salmon habitat, or connecting more people to nature - it's been the life work of Chris Orsinger.
The Mat-Su Borough has replaced more than 100 culverts to create better stream beds for salmon.

A recent surge in water flow in the Colorado River, focused just above its juncture with the Gunnison in western Colorado, is intended to help native fish populations.
International
The juvenile giant squid was roughly twice as long as a human is tall.

The expansion of the fishmeal and fish oil industry in West Africa has triggered huge appetite for the flat sardinella and bonga.
Chile salmon farmer Nova Austral plans to pull the pens it uses to raise salmon from the ocean waters off a national park near the southern tip of Chilean Patagonia.
Support the Salmon News. Donate today.
Watershed Watch Salmon Society #75, 210 – 128 West Hastings St. Vancouver, BC V6B 1G8 Canada
Unsubscribe | View in browser