New Native Trout Challenge Kicks Off in 12 Western States

CDFW News – Deep in the West, under a secret rock in a cool stream, lies a prize worth finding. Anglers of all skill levels are invited to participate in the Western Native Trout Challenge and put the lure of the West on their bucket list. In addition to earning bragging rights and prizes at the Expert, Advanced and Master Levels, participants will help the Western Native Trout Initiative Read More…

Interview: China’s Mekong Dam-building Mindset ‘Exported…

Radio Free Asia – The Mekong River extends for thousands of miles through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, supporting more than 65 million people who depend on it for food, transportation, and commerce. But development, mostly led by China, threatens to upset the delicate balance between local communities and the river’s rich ecosystem. On Monday, the Mekong River Read More…

Interior Department Pulls Support Letter From Klamath Dam Removal…

Jefferson Public Radio – The Trump Administration has withdrawn the previous administration’s support for the removal of four dams on the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Recently-appointed Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has rescinded a letter of support that Obama-era Interior Secretary Sally Jewell wrote in 2016. Jewell’s letter threw the agency’s Read More…

The Medieval Practices That Reshaped Europe’s Fish

The Atlantic – In the year 1289, King Philip IV of France was worried about fish. “Each and every watershed of our realm,” he proclaimed, “large and small, yields nothing due to the evil of fishers.” Environmental change, expanding cities, and overfishing had sent aquatic populations into a tailspin. Because they were scarce, the fish, King Philip noted, “are much more costly than Read More…

Endangered Winter-Run Chinook Salmon return early, a good sign for…

KRCR – U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service Biologists are welcoming a surprise in the Sacramento River this spring. Some of the endangered Winter-Run Chinook Salmon have returned early and it is a good sign for the future of the species. Biologists found that at least 13 male juvenile Winter-Run Chinook Salmon have already returned after being released into Battle Creek one year ago. These Read More…

When You Dream Of California, Does Water Come To Mind? It Should

WBUR – On a summer day in the San Joaquin Valley, 101 in the shade, I merge onto Highway 99 past downtown Fresno and steer through the vibrations of heat. I’m headed to the valley’s deep south, to a little farmworker town in a far corner of Kern County called Lost Hills. This is where the biggest farmer in America—the one whose mad plantings of almonds and pistachios have triggered Read More…

‘Removing the Middle Fork Nooksack dam is one of the most important…

The Bellingham Herald – A small dam that channels Nooksack River water into Lake Whatcom will be removed next year in an effort to help endangered salmon and, by extension, southern resident killer whales, proponents said. The city of Bellingham’s dam has been diverting water from the Nooksack’s Middle Fork since 1962 to supplement its main source of water, which is Lake Whatcom — Read More…

Is there a problem with salmon farming?

BBC News – Scottish salmon is marketed as healthy, sustainable and environmentally-friendly but is that image accurate? It was once considered a luxury but now a staggering one million salmon meals are eaten in the UK every day. The fish is one of the UK's biggest food exports and said to be worth more than £1bn a year to the economy. In supermarkets, the packaging shows pristine Read More…

West Marin nonprofit snares $593K for creek restoration

Marin Independent Journal – The West Marin ghost town of Jewell is set to be reclaimed by nature this year with a $593,000 boost from the state. The Olema-based Salmon Protection and Watershed Network, or SPAWN, plans to use a grant to restore the historic floodplains on Lagunitas Creek that once provided vital refuge for the now dwindling populations of endangered coho salmon and other Read More…

How penguin chicks could influence fishery management for marine…

Scitech Europa – The bodily condition of penguin chicks and how adult penguins fish could influence fishery management for marine conservation. A new study has found that these factors in adult penguins and penguin chicks are directly linked to local fish abundance. Understanding them in their environment could influence fishery management for the purpose of marine conservation. Marine Read More…