NOAA News

Coho salmon used to run wild in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. But those populations of coho were listed as endangered in the 1990s, and by 2008 the wild runs had declined to critically low numbers. Today, the remnants of those populations are hanging on with the help of a fish hatchery run by the non-profit Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project in collaboration with scientists from the NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Brian Spence and Joe Kiernan, both fisheries biologists and ecologists with NOAA Fisheries, are two of the scientists working with the hatchery. Together with other biologists, their goal is to increase the chances that coho salmon will run wild in the Santa Cruz Mountains again, and to do that, they’re doing more than just hatching fish and releasing them.  

In order to maximize their growth and survival, young salmon need to hit the ocean when conditions are just right. In coastal California , that would be when seasonal upwelling brings cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface. However, that window of opportunity can be brief and can vary in timing from year to year. If the coho miss it because of bad timing, fewer of them will survive.

In Canada and Alaska—the heart of coho country—the young fish migrate out to sea over a short span of time, usually about a month. But in California, which is the southern end of their natural range, coho salmon migrate over a longer period of time, typically two-to-three months. Spence and Kiernan believe that by migrating out over a longer period of time, wild coho in California are hedging their bets against unpredictable ocean conditions. Even though many fish may miss the most favorable ocean window in a given year, at least some of them will be sure to make it when conditions are optimal.

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The Stockton Record

California’s Delta has been rated in the top 10 of the best black bass fishing lakes in the United States by Bassmaster Magazine, putting a spotlight squarely on a truly amazing fishery that sits right at Stockton’s doorstep.

James Hall, editor of the magazine based in Birmingham, Ala., said the final list of lakes was based on data from state wildlife scientists and catch rates of countless fisheries, coupled with recommendations from bass fishing federations and their 500,000 members.

“For rankings we use the term ‘lakes,’ but this includes rivers, estuaries and deltas – all waters that boast incredible bass fisheries,” Hall said. “Being in the top 10 means anglers will find the three crown jewels of bass fishing when they go there – beautiful scenery, an opportunity to catch a fish of a lifetime and the chance to hook a bunch of fish.”

Tim Quilon, a member of the Bass Federation, who earlier this year put together an amazing run of nine consecutive tournament wins, believes the quality of the size of fish puts the Delta in a unique group of fisheries.

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Corvallis Gazette Times

Sport fishermen will get an additional three weeks to get out and catch a chinook salmon on the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam under a season extension approved Monday by fishery managers from Oregon and Washington.

During a joint state hearing fish and wildlife officials from the two states decided to reopen the spring chinook season on the lower Columbia from Saturday, May 25, through Saturday, June 15.

The extended spring season takes place for three weeks immediately prior to the summer chinook season, which is scheduled on the lower Columbia from June 16 through June 30.

 “We’re pleased to be able to provide five weeks of uninterrupted chinook salmon fishing,” said Steve Williams, deputy administrator of ODFW’s fish division.

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The Courthouse News

California Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order Monday aimed at easing water restrictions for farmers, following two dry winters in a row.

The order directs the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and Department of Water Resources (DWR) to expedite the review and processing of both transfers and existing water rights claims for the 2013 growing season. Brown hopes to alleviate the impact of dwindling water reserves on San Joaquin Valley farmers.

“Agriculture is vital to the health of California’s economy, and this order ensures we’re doing what’s necessary to cope with a very dry year,” Gov. Brown said in a statement.

SWRCB and DWR share water transfer responsibilities in the Golden State. The former handles reviews and processes requests for water transfers from famers, while the DWR is tasked with actually delivering the water to customers. Water transfers in dry years help districts with excess supply sell to those with less, typically districts in the western and southern sides of the massive Central Valley.

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The Reflector

Columbia River anglers will be allowed to catch and keep white sturgeon in the Bonneville Pool four days in June under an agreement reached May 14 by fishery managers from Washington and Oregon.

The fishery will open to legal-size sturgeon June 14-15 and June 21-22 in the Columbia River and its tributaries from Bonneville Dam upstream to The Dalles Dam. Only white sturgeon measuring 38 inches to 54 inches (fork length) may be retained.

The sturgeon fishery in the Bonneville Pool has been restricted to catch-and-release fishing only, because the catch guideline for the early season was met last winter. A balance of 700 fish are still available for harvest this summer under the annual harvest guideline of 1,100 for those waters.

Ron Roler, Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), said fishery managers will closely monitor the catch to determine if the harvest guideline will accommodate additional retention fishing in the Bonneville Pool.

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The Stockton Record

Confused about the Delta? That’s understandable. The governor’s proposed $14 billion twin tunnels project is complex, and critics have proposed a number of alternatives.

The Delta Protection Commission invites the public to learn more during a meeting Thursday in the heart of the Delta – Courtland – not far from where the proposed tunnels would begin.

The commission will discuss the governor’s plan and whether to take a position on it, said Michael Machado, the former state senator who is now executive director of the commission. This could be Machado’s last meeting, as he announced last month he was stepping down.

Machado said Monday he thought it would be good to have a cross-section of presentations and perspectives, while also giving the public a chance to comment.

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The Columbia Basin Bulletin

More lamprey have been counted at Threemile Falls Dam on northeast Oregon’s Umatilla River in five days this year than in seven months in the previous two years.

Estimates of as many as 300 lampreys, fish that sometimes are erroneously referred to as eels, have crossed over lamprey passage structures or climbed the concrete of Three Mile Falls Dam, according to Aaron Jackson, the lamprey project leader for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

The Umatillas now have four such adult lamprey passage structures, which were paid for by Bonneville Power Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, that provide new passage routes at low-elevation diversions within the Umatilla River.

“This is our highest return since the program began in 2000,” Jackson said. “It looks like we shattered the old records within a few days.”

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KSBY

King salmon season has officially kicked off on the Central Coast. It’s a favorite among pier and boat anglers in Morro Bay and one of the most rewarding.

The beginning of the season looked very good, some were even talking record catches, but over the last few weeks, catch rates have weakened a bit, leading to soaring prices for the prized catch.

“How’d we do? One?” Chris Battle called out to fishermen arriving with their daily catch. After a quick start to salmon season, fishermen say now they’re just trying to stay afloat.

“There were high expectations of it being a phenomenal start and everyone’s kind of been let down,” said Battle of Morro Bay Fish Company.

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Greenwich Time

A nonnative snail has turned up in the Truckee River in Nevada for the first time, and wildlife officials are hoping it doesn’t harm the river’s trout population or spread to Lake Tahoe.

Nevada Department of Wildlife officials said tests have confirmed the presence of at least three New Zealand mudsnails in the river near Reno. Now they’re trying to determine the extent of the mudsnail population.

“We know we have at least a one-mile distribution, bare minimum,” Chris Crookshanks, fisheries biologist with the department of wildlife, told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Ranging in size from a grain of sand to an eighth-of-an-inch, the New Zealand mudsnail can thrive in huge densities, with up to 900,000 per square yard in parts of the Yellowstone River, researchers said.

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CVBT

The “Delta Plan,” adopted Thursday as state law by the Delta Stewardship Commission, is fatally flawed, says a nonprofit water group based in Santa Barbara.

“We find the Final Delta Plan utterly deficient. It is nothing more than a continuation of the policy that has systematically destroyed the largest estuary on the west coast of the continental United States and instigated the state’s water wars,” says the California Water Impact Network. “As such, it is not a solution to our water crisis, but a disastrous adherence to the status quo.”

The group notes that the Delta Plan ignores simple arithmetic: that the amount of water pledged to various users exceeds by five times the amount of water normally available from the combined Sacramento, Trinity and San Joaquin river basins.

“The current Delta Plan does not recognize this stark and troubling fact. This, in turn, ensures that our current — and unsustainable — state water policy will remain unabridged, condemning the Delta to continued decline,” says Carolee Krieger, founder and president of the California Water Impact Network.

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