Columbia River Sockeye Salmon. Courtesy WDFW.
The Obama Administration is walking away from what could have become the first big salmon fight of 2010.
NOAA Fisheries is dropping plans to cut off spring time spills at four dams on the Lower Snake River.
Photo from BPA.
An independent science panel has looked at the Obama Administration’s plans to barge salmon around dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers this spring.
The conclusion? Not a good idea.
It wasn’t all that long ago that the Columbia River would be filled with smelt during migration season. There were enough of these tiny fish to support a vibrant commercial fishing industry. Millions of pounds were harvested every year.
Then sometime in the 1990s, things started to go very badly for the Pacific Smelt.
On Tuesday, NOAA Fisheries announced it will list the fish as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
The State of Oregon, and NOAA Fisheries, have joined the call for a new hearing on the Jordan Cove LNG terminal and the Pacific Connector gas pipeline.
Oregon’s decision is no surprise. Governor Kulongoski said he’d file a rehearing request a month ago when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the licenses for the two projects.
But NOAA’s involvement? No so expected. And it raises questions about whether something fundamentally wrong with how LNG issues in Oregon are decided.
It’s the first step in what could be a long crackdown on pesticide use in the Pacific Northwest.
The Environmental Protection Agency is placing new limits on the use of three organophosphate pesticides – chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion. The rules apply to Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California.
A Chinook salmon. Courtesy NOAA.
The EPA is trying to keep these chemical out of streams and rivers that are home to salmon and steelhead. Research shows that these pesticides can interfere with a salmon’s ability to smell, making it harder for the fish to hunt prey. The chemicals may also kill prey and reduce the salmon’s food supply. In high enough concentrations, the pesticides can outright kill salmon.
How do the new rules work? First, they require buffer zones around salmon and steelhead habitat. These are areas where the pesticides can’t be used. The size of the buffer zone will depend on weather conditions, and how the pesticides will be applied. The idea is to keep the pesticides from drifting into fish waters.
Other restrictions including no spraying on windy and rainy days, or when rain is in the forecast, to prevent the chemicals from running off fields and into streams.
For the most part, these rules follow recommendations by NOAA Fisheries. The EPA is asking manufacturers to voluntarily adopt these limits, with the threat of taking regulatory action if they don’t.
But what’s especially important about today’s announcement is that it may be the first in a very long series of new rulings on pesticide use. The EPA and NOAA will spend the next couple of years studying three dozen pesticides in the Northwest. So far, six of them have been labeled as threats to salmon and steelhead. That includes the three pesticides mentioned above.
Two months into the sea lion trapping program at Bonneville Dam and guess what? The sea lions have figured out the game.
As the Columbian notes this morning, three weeks have gone by without any sea lions being captured. Brian Gorman with NOAA Fisheries tells the paper officials aren’t sure if the animals have become trap shy. But the latest report on the Army Corps of Engineers website says the sea lions have started using a concrete pad to haul out instead of using the traps.
Courtesy Oregon Fish And Wildlife
The Columbian also reports that Oregon Fish and Wildlife has ruled out shooting the sea lions, at least for this year.
Since the trapping program began March 11, 15 sea lions have been captured. Four were released, four were relocated to an aquarium and a zoo, and the remaining seven were put down.
Officials say the numbers of California sea lions hanging out at Bonneville Dam are down from previous years, probably because the most troublesome predators have been removed. The numbers of Steller sea lions are up.
State and federal officials received permission to trap and possibly kill the sea lions because they’re eating large numbers of salmon trying to get over the Bonneville Dam. The Columbian says they got nearly 3% of the salmon at the dam last year.
And if you have any doubts about how smart these guys are, a few years ago one of the sea lions figured out how to get past the dam by hitching a ride on barges going through the locks.
